Just Mets

Jacob deGrom did everything he could to secure a win both for himself and his club on Tuesday night.

He was brilliant again against the Phillies – he had allowed only four hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings against Philadelphia, throwing 98 pitches with relative ease.

He was sent up to bat in the seventh inning, which said Terry Collins was going to ask him to at least start the eighth inning.

He did, but after getting a quick first out, he allowed two singles and departed with the tying run coming to bat.

“At the start of the inning you could see the ball was starting to come up and the velocity was coming down,” Collins said after the game. “He was putting it in the middle of the plate and they were taking pretty good swings.”

Unfortunately for deGrom, the bullpen faltered and coughed up the lead in a matter of four pitches, costing deGrom his sixth win of the year and rewarding his brilliant effort with his first no-decision in 2015.

Still, after falling behind, the Mets found a way to win in extra innings, which was the most important thing to him and the manager.

“The most important thing is we got the win. I went out there trying to keep us in position to get the win and we got the win,” deGrom said after the game.

“It was a good game for us to hang in there and come back and win,” Collins said, “because Jake was outstanding.”

He certainly was. He was dominant for the first seven innings, showing a little extra gas on the fastball than he usually shows, which was made almost impossible to hit thanks to pinpoint control of his slider which ranged from 90-93 mph. As was the case last Thursday agains the Cardinals, he was spotting that fastball precisely on each corner, and the Phillies were only about to put 11 of the 62 fastballs he threw in play the entire night.

The dominance with his fastball and slider has resulted in next to no significant contact against him over his last three starts. He hasn’t allowed an extra-base hit in his last 25 1/3 innings, and he’s recorded 20 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings over his last two starts.

“I think I’m able to get the ball down in the zone where I want it versus when I was struggling with my mechanics, I was struggling to get the ball down so I think that’s helped out.” deGrom explained about his recent dominance.

“It’s a confidence thing, too,” he said.

He’s clearly beyond the hip and shoulder issues which were plaguing him in late April and early May. He’s able to take control of a game on the mound, and right now he looks as good as he has at any point since he was called up in May 2014. He has shown a ton of maturity by being able to make mechanical adjustments quickly and not lose an ounce of confidence despite the rough road he was riding earlier this month. Only the best can do all of those things – he has once again emerged as one of the best starters in baseball, and is easily the co-ace of this Mets staff.

In his last three starts, deGrom is 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA with only one walks and 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings over that span.

In his last 30 starts, deGrom is 14-8 with a 2.70 ERA in 190 1/3 innings with only ten home runs allowed and 51 walks with 197 strikeouts over that span. That’s the 12th best ERA, 14th most wins, 13th most strikeouts, and 19th fewest walks in the game over that span among those who have pitched 190 innings or more.

He has posted a 1.56 ERA in 17 career starts at Citi Field Field. That is the lowest home ERA in the majors over the last two seasons among starters who have thrown 60 innings or more in their home ballpark.