The difference between being two games out of first and four games out of first nearly came down to one good pitch to a Met killer.
Fortunately for Jacob deGrom, the club’s offense showed up for a change and turned what appeared to be a fateful pitch into a single hat tip.
It came in the fifth inning with the Mets leading the Nationals by the strand of a 1-0 lead after deGrom allowed a lead off double to Yunel Escobar. He had nearly pitched himself out of trouble when Wilson Ramos came up with Escobar at third and two outs.
But even deGrom’s best work can’t slip past this notorious Doomsday Machine against the Mets.
DeGrom threw an 0-1 fastball that split the black on the outside edge. To most any other right-handed hitter, it’s strike two in some manner.
But not to Ramos.
He smoked the pitch over the right field wall for a two-run home run for his third and fourth RBI against the Mets in six games this season, giving the Nationals what really seemed like an insurmountable 2-1 lead, given the state of the Mets offense.
Ramos now has nine home runs in his career against the a Mets with a .340/.351/.591 line in 167 plate appearances.
“It was a pretty good pitch, but I left it up a little bit,” deGrom explained about the home run. “I like it down a little more. He just got the barrel to it and it went out.”
It seemed like a disappointing mark on what really was another brilliant performance by the lone Met All-Star. He otherwise dominated the Nationals for six innings, facing the minimum through four innings on a lone single by Ian Desmond with two outs in the third inning. He would be caught stealing to end that inning.
His fastball was once again electric and he had pinpoint control on both sides of the plate. He offset it beautifully with his breaking ball and circle change, and he was able to stay ahead of pretty much every single hitter, including Ramos before he hit his two-run home run.
But fortunately for deGrom and the Mets, it wasn’t going to be one of those nights when scoring three runs was a pipe dream.
It really took a roll of the dice by manager Terry Collins. DeGrom had thrown only 82 pitches before being faced with what has become a difficult decision for the manager lately: use a pinch hitter for the pitcher with two runners in scoring position.
Why? Because deGrom’s batting average is 30 points higher than that of their pinch hitters.
“I knew Jake had two more innings, easily.” Collins explained. “But I said, ‘Listen, if you go up there and strike out and he gets Juan [Lagares] out, we’re sitting there still behind. Even though you’re still pitching, we’re still behind,’ so we rolled the dice.”
Fortunately for Collins, he didn’t crap his team out.
Eric Campbell came through with a two-run single to plate Wilmer Flores and Kirk Nieuwenhuis as the Mets finally broke through after getting a break on a fielding miscue by Nationals first baseman Clint Robinson.
“[Campbell] is swinging better,” Collins explained. “I just thought the way Eric has been swinging the bat lately it was a good spot for him and I don’t know how bad Mike’s knee bothers him when he swings, and the way it has been acting I thought it was a spot for Campbell.
From that point on, the Mets scored five more runs to seal deGrom’s tenth win of the season.
Yes, five more runs.
It was a well earned victory for deGrom, who said he was amped up for this game and really pitched his heart out for the club on Tuesday. It shouldn’t come down to one pitch, especially a pitch he executed, but it nearly did, at least in the eyes and thoughts of onlookers.
But for a day anyway, deGrom and the Mets can simply smile and tip their cap to the opposing team, rather than hang their heads in frustration.
Just Mets 