NO HIT PARADE
Jacob fans 14 but Mets lose to Rays as de end nears
Mets perplexed as success with bats doesn’t translate to success in standings
As the Mets continued wasting opportunities in their disheartening season, the attention turned to Jacob deGrom and whether the right-hander could still accomplish the unimaginable this year.
The Mets ace bounced back from his worst outing of the season with a 14-strikeout night in the Mets’ 2-1 loss to the Rays on Monday at Citi Field. DeGrom recorded 14 Ks for the third time in his career. The Mets (2430) dropped to six games under .500.
“I think everyone is disappointed with some of the games we let get away,” deGrom said. “We wish we were in a better spot.
Now we have to watch other teams’ scores and hope we can get into this thing.”
They are virtually out of the postseason race and the club will not have a winning record for the third time in the last four years. If the Mets win their remaining six games, they’ll have a paper-thin chance of making it into the expanded playoffs where 16 teams will play this October. But even then, a postseason berth is not guaranteed.
On a positive note, for the first time in franchise history, Mets starters collected at least 10 strikeouts in three consecutive games. The double-digit punchouts came from David Peterson, Rick Porcello and the ace himself.
DeGrom allowed just four hits over seven innings against Tampa Bay. He gave up the two runs on a sacrifice fly in the second and a home run to Nate Lowe in the fourth. He completed his 11th start of the year by retiring 11 of his final 12 batters. Though, the two runs allowed inched his ERA up from 2.09 to 2.14.
“It’s a short year. I wish I had more starts,” deGrom said. “I feel like everything is where I want it.
It’s such a short season. What is it, 11 or 12 starts? You’re used to making 30-plus. So, I feel like I could keep going and keep improving. I don’t have that opportunity.”
The 32-year-old is vying for his third consecutive Cy Young award with a fury. His previous outing against the Phillies — when he was pulled after just two innings due to a right hamstring spasm — impacted the race. He surrendered three runs, a season high, five days ago. The two-inning start shifted deGrom from the National League Cy Young favorite to a mere potential contender.
Positive news about his hamstring in between starts allowed deGrom to take the hill Monday, and his 14-strikeout outing kept him in the race.
“Jake’s throwing the ball really well,” manager Luis Rojas said of deGrom’s outing. “The stuff is there, the swings and misses and the strikeouts. And today he got to 112 pitches in seven innings.”
He leads the NL with 94 strikeouts.
DeGrom’s 2.14 ERA ranks fifth in the NL and seventh in MLB. But, for the purpose of his prolonged Cy Young run, there are at least three starters standing in deGrom’s way of becoming the third pitcher to win three consecutive such awards. The Reds’ Trevor Bauer (1.80 ERA) and the Braves’ Max Fried (1.96) are also going for it, with the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes leading the pack with a 1.77 ERA but lacking the number of innings this year.
“He’s probably the top pitcher in the NL,” J.D. Davis said of his teammate. “We’ve hit against a lot of great pitchers and it’s been unbelievable to watch Jake and to be behind him and watch him work and do what he does. He continues to get better and continues to be unsatisfied.”