Another gem for Jacob deGrom and rare support in Mets victory
WASHINGTON – Jacob deGrom’s march to the NL Cy Young Award continued on Friday night as he evened his record at 9-9 with a 4-2 victory over the Nationals before 37,895 at Nationals Park.
DeGrom’s MLB-best ERA dropped from 1.78 to 1.77 as he allowed one run and three hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out eight in a 98-pitch effort.
The Mets improved to 13-18 in deGrom’s starts by giving him something he’s been lacking most of the season: support.
Jay Bruce had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs. Devin Mesoraco, in his first game since Sept. 3, went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and an RBI. Dominic Smith contributed an RBI single.
The Mets also helped deGrom’s Cy Young credentials this week by keeping his closest competitors from getting wins against them.
Max Scherzer, who gave up three runs in seven innings and struck out 13 in a no-decision in the series opener on Thursday, is 17-7 with a 2.57 ERA and 290 strikeouts.
Aaron Nola of the Phillies is 16-5 with a 2.44 ERA after allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings to the Mets in a no-decision on Tuesday.
Thirty members of the Baseball Writers Association of America will decide the Cy Young winner, with results to be announced in November. Any voters who may be inclined to hold deGrom’s won-loss record against him can at least sleep soundly that he has gotten back to .500 for the first time since he fell to 8-8 in a 3-1 loss to the Giants on Aug. 23.
DeGrom’s previous victory came on Aug. 18 against the Phillies. In the five outings between wins, he went 0-2 with a 2.12 ERA.
DeGrom extended his own major-league record with his 28th consecutive start of allowing three runs or fewer.
Amed Rosario led off the game with a first-pitch double against Nationals righthander Joe Ross (0-1), who was making his second start after coming back from Tommy John surgery. Bruce drove in the game’s first run with a two-out, looping single to left.
After deGrom struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 first, the Nationals tied the game on Ryan Zimmerman’s long sacrifice fly to center in the second. DeGrom ended the inning by picking Wilmer Difo off first base. It was the first 1-3 pickoff of deGrom’s career.
The Mets took a 4-1 lead in a three-run third. Michael Conforto hit an opposite-field double and scored the go-ahead run on Bruce’s double to right-center. Bruce has 16 RBIs in his last 15 games.
One out later, Smith lined a single to right — he beat the shift as the ball went just over the glove of second baseman Difo in short rightfield — to score Bruce and make it 3-1.
Todd Frazier reached when Anthony Rendon booted his grounder to third for an error. Mesoraco followed with an RBI double to left to make it 4-1. Frazier was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
DeGrom cruised from there, allowing only a single to Victor Robles in the third and a single to Spencer Kieboom in the fifth. He was removed for a pinch hitter in the eighth.
Seth Lugo threw a scoreless inning and Robert Gsellman notched his 12th save despite allowing a run in the ninth on Rendon’s RBI single.
One night after starting Bruce at first, Smith in left and Conforto in right, manager Mickey Callaway returned all three to their regular positions to provide better defense for deGrom. Smith started at first, Bruce in right and Conforto in left.
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Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
