The Mets defeated the Rockies by the score of 3-0 on Wednesday night at Citi Field. Here are my takeaways from the win…
Jake deReally Good.
DeGrom was dominant over the first four innings, dazzling the Rockies with his blazing fastball and keeping them off-balanced with his circle change-up. It was almost as if he was on automatic pilot through those innings, as the Rockies gave him next to no trouble at all.
But then the strike zone started to bounce around for deGrom in the fifth and sixth innings. DJ LaMahieu led off the fifth with a double, but then he walked Michael McKenry before retiring the next three in order. But in the sixth inning, deGrom walked two more batters but was bailed out thanks to a botched squeeze play by the Rockies, helping him out of the jam.
Overall it was a really good outing for deGrom. He was able to miss a lot of bats early, and just enough when he needed to in the middle innings when he got out of rhythm. He is so poised and focused, that even the slightest bit of adversity doesn’t seem to derail him, which allows him to survive when conditions get a little unfavorable for him.
It’s the mark of a special pitcher, and he is most definitely a special pitcher.
Juan Uribe and Yoenis Cespedes broke out.
Uribe was all over the place in this game, making big plays at third, hustling out an infield hit, drawing a walk, as well as coming through with a clutch two-out double to plate the first run of this game.
He looked a little overanxious at the plate before he stroked his double, as he was out ahead of everything Jorge De La Rossa was throwing. That suggests he was trying to do too much, which is not too surprising considering it’s been a little bit of a struggle for him recently. But he showed his value to this club with his great all around game on both sides of the ball.
As for Cespedes, he’s had a power outage since joining the Mets 12 days ago, but he broke out with a home run over the 380 foot sign in right-centerfield in the eighth to stretch the Mets lead to three.
It’s going to come for him – he’s so good and so electric. Like Uribe, it’s almost as if he’s been trying to do too much lately, over-swinging and going out of the zone way too frequently. Hopefully tonight was the first of an offensive barrage for the Cuban slugger.
Just enough offense.
The Mets really didn’t get much going against the De La Rossa and the Rockies bullpen on Wednesday night, but they scored just enough to support the pitching staff once again.
They’re going to have to become a little more consistent, especially with the Pirates right around the corner, but they’re showing they can at least scratch out the runs they need now, which is a stark contrast of their abilities from just three weeks ago. It’s refreshing and relieving to see as the club continues to rack up wins.
Other notes from Wednesday:
Both Uribe and Cuddyer recorded their 1500th career hit on Wednesday night.
DeGrom struck out ten batters on Wednesday, lowering his ERA to 2.03 for the year and 1.46 at Citi Field. This was deGrom’s fourth double-digit strikeout game of the year (last one was on July 8 against the Giants), and the eighth of his career.
Mets pitching has held the Rockies scoreless for 23 consecutive innings, which is a season-high for New York.
Jeurys Familia recorded his 32nd save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Mets extended their winning streak against the Rockies at Citi Field to nine consecutive games.
The Mets have now shut out the opposition 11 times in 2015, and improved to 53-2 when leading after eight innings.
Just Mets 