The Mets earned a series split against the Cardinals, defeating them by the score of 2-0 today at Citi Field. Here are my takeaways from the win…
Jake deGrominant.
What a performance by Jacob deGrom today. I mean, wow. His fastball was electric with a tight slider on the corners all day long. St. Louis gave him a run for his money early, working tough at-bats and deep counts through the first two innings. But, deGrom didn’t allow a single base runner after a Matt Carpenter single in the first, and he went on absolute cruise control, retiring the final 23 batters he faced.
The first two innings elevated his pitch count, but he only needed around 60 or so pitches from the third and the eighth inning. If not for the first two innings, he probably gets the chance to complete this game. Nevertheless, this was by far his best outing of the year. Well done…
Some offense.
Thanks mostly to Lucas Duda. Both of his home runs today came against left-handed pitching – one against Jaime Garcia and the other against Randy Choate. They didn’t do much otherwise, but it was nice nonetheless to see Duda step up and put the lineup on his shoulders. He hasn’t hit for much power until today, but perhaps this was a start for him, and if it was, he will truly become a complete and feared hitter in this league, considering how competent he’s become against left-handed pitching.
The Mets actually took some improved turns at-bat today. They walked six times, three of which leading off, they executed a sacrifice bunt, and in general got some big hits and contributions throughout the lineup.
Speaking of which, it was nice to see Michael Cuddyer have a big day as well. He notched three hits after hitting into some horrible luck throughout this series.
A cleaner game.
The Mets certainly played better today, thanks in large measure to deGrom’s superb outing. They played on their toes, played well in the field and had a tad more energy than they’ve had in recent games. That’s how it needs to go if they intend to beat teams like the Cardinals and stay in any kind of playoff chase in general this season.
Other notes from Thursday:
Today marked Duda’s seventh career multi home run game – he now has four home runs against left-handed pitching this year, as many as he had against southpaws last year.
Duda is now hitting .405 against left-handed pitching this season.
deGrom’s game score of 91 is the second highest mark in baseball this season, behind only Corey Kluber’s 98 game score earlier this season.
The Mets hit into four double plays, although they went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position on Thursday.
Mets pitching retired 25 of the final 26 batters they faced today.
Just Mets 