On a day when the Mets needed a win to ensure a disappointing 3-4 road trip, things didn’t start off well for the Mets and Jacob deGrom.
He was in immediate trouble as he allowed a leadoff double to Ender Inciarte, ending a streak of 33 1/3 innings of not allowing an extra-base hit. After AJ Pollock singled, Eric Campbell botched an easy 5-4-3 double play, eventually leading to a 2-1 deficit.
“They are definitely a good lineup. I made some mistakes over the middle. After that, I had to really refocus and try to start locating a little better,” deGrom explained about his first inning trouble.
Fortunately, deGrom was able to refocus virtually immediately, and he pretty much dominated the Diamondbacks after David Peralta plated Pollock in the first inning. He struck out the final two batters in the first, and then struck out the side in the second. He didn’t allow a hit after Pollock’s single in the first until Paul Goldschmidt singled in the sixth.
Overall, deGrom allowed only two earned runs on five hits with ten strikeouts, although he walked three batters which is rather unusual for him (one was a clear pitch around to Goldschmidt).
“You saw the ball come down,” Terry Collins explained. “The balls early in the game were right belt high on the plate. He started moving the ball around, pitching to the sides of the plate a little bit better. He used his changeup much more effectively after the first inning.”
There’s no question things were looking awfully rainy early for deGrom, but he was able to quickly make an adjustment and kick it into a high-speed gear virtually immediately. He was mostly untouchable after allowing the first two runs until he ran out of gas in the seventh. But his fastball was electric and he consistently pounded the strike zone down with tons of movement in towards the right-handed hitters. He lacked the usual consistency he has with his slider but he went to his change-up as necessary still managed to keep the slider down in the zone and on the corners when he needed to.
It was a very impressive showing by deGrom. His line was mostly good, but it doesn’t tell the story of the effort. The Diamondbacks had him on the ropes early down a run and struggling to find himself. But like Matt Harvey did on Thursday night, it’s almost as if deGrom got a little mad and started pitching with a little fire at that point.
It was a gutsy and character-driven effort by deGrom on a day the Mets really needed to go home with a win, and that along with his statistics demonstrate why deGrom is unquestionably among the best and most valuable pitchers in baseball right now.
Since June 21, 2014, deGrom has a 2.13 ERA in 177 1/3 innings. That is the best in baseball during that span (Clayton Kershaw is second with a 2.14 ERA). His ERA is down to 2.44 for the year.
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