Jacob deGrom strikes out 14, finally wins as Mets split doubleheader
DENVER — The Mets’ favorite day of the week has often included an all-too-familiar nightmare. Instead, Saturday evening’s offensive rally finally gave their ace an unfamiliar win.
Jacob deGrom recorded 14 strikeouts, lowered his season ERA to 0.45, and the Mets offense rallied for a come-from-behind 4-3 win in Game 1 of their doubleheader against the Rockies. The two-time Cy Young award winner has pitched brilliantly across three starts to begin the 2021 season, and on Saturday he collected his first victory of the year to show for it.
“It’s exciting. We got a good lineup,” deGrom said. “It’s not easy for those guys when they have a game and games keep getting canceled or postponed. That messes with their timing. But now, hopefully get this thing rolling and let them do what they’re capable of. We saw that late in this game.”
Pete Alonso smashed a missile, his second home run of the year, to lead off the sixth inning and cut the deficit to 3-2. In the bottom of the frame, deGrom retired the side and reached 14 strikeouts for his second consecutive start. Three outs away from a loss, James McCann sparked the comeback with a single to left field. McCann was replaced by pinch-runner Albert Almora and clutch bench player Jonathan Villar drove him in on a game-tying RBI single to right. Francisco Lindor drove Villar in on a go-ahead RBI single to put the Mets on top.
Edwin Diaz secured his first save of the year by striking out the side in the seventh. DeGrom and Diaz combined to strike out 17 of the 26 batters they faced in the series opener against the Rockies.
“It’s nice to see the guys’ resiliency again,” said Mets manager Luis Rojas. “It’s fun to watch that the guys are not giving up.”
The Mets’ four-game win streak was snapped in Game 2 of the doubleheader with a 7-2 loss to the Rockies. Joey Lucchesi struggled in the first inning of his rotation debut, giving up hits to four of the first five batters he faced and allowing three runs to score. Robert Gsellman pitched a scoreless fourth inning in his season debut, but another Mets’ comeback became insurmountable after reliever Jacob Barnes surrendered four runs, including a three-run homer to Josh Fuentes.
“That first inning was not the way I wanted to start, of course,” Lucchesi said, who was more satisfied with his next two scoreless innings and believed he can build off those frames his next time out.
Typically on days like Saturday, when deGrom dominates the opposing lineup and makes even the most successful of batters look silly at the plate, the Mets defense, offense or bullpen lets their ace down. Such was the case in the fifth inning, when second baseman Jeff McNeil committed a throwing error to allow the leadoff hitter, Fuentes, to reach base. The mistake came back to haunt him when Dom Nunez tripled to drive in Fuentes and tied the game at 1-1. Yonathan Daza gave the Rockies a momentary lead with a sacrifice fly before deGrom gave up a solo shot to Raimel Tapia.
All three runs in the fifth inning were unearned and did not impact deGrom’s otherworldly ERA.
DeGrom, wearing a No. 41 patch on his right sleeve, came one strikeout away from tying The Franchise’s record. He struck out nine consecutive batters from the second inning to the fifth. One more whiff and deGrom would have tied Tom Seaver’s MLB record of 10 straight strikeouts in 1970.
“That was truly business as usual,” deGrom said, who said he was unaware of Seaver’s record. “I didn’t know how many it was. I knew I had struck out quite a bit of guys in a row, but I was frustrated that I couldn’t field my position that well.”
The Mets ace, though, achieved a new career best with his ninth consecutive K. DeGrom became the ninth pitcher in MLB history to strike out at least nine batters in a row. The right-hander’s ability to self-correct was astonishing after a suboptimal start to the evening.
DeGrom was uncomfortable on the mound in the second inning. Saturday was his first time pitching after seven days of rest, due to a rainout, then a snowout.
He gave up a double to Charlie Blackmon, a left-handed hitter who typically struggles against deGrom. Then he walked C.J. Cron and his body language on the hill became somewhat exasperated. After a pitch that Fuentes fouled off, deGrom landed awkwardly and hunched over. He quickly corrected himself, striking out Fuentes and Sam Hilliard on killer 99 and 100 mph fastballs to end the inning.
“You prepare to throw every five days and that’s what you want to do, and it’s just unfortunate the weather we’ve had,” deGrom said. “You can’t control that. Just try to stay as fresh as you can and I didn’t have time to throw a bullpen. I felt like I was a little off early on but then was able to make the adjustment.”
