Mets overcome rare glitch by Jacob deGrom to sweep Pirates
Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom follows through against the Pittsburgh Pirates during an MLB baseball game at Citi Field on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Jacob deGrom did what you would expect him to do against the Pirates on Sunday: He deGrominated.
But then, suddenly and shockingly, deGrom was in the dugout shaking his head after giving up a tying three-run home run.
So the Mets had to go to Plan B to finish a four-game sweep of the Pirates. That came on Brandon Nimmo’s go-ahead single in the eighth that drove in secret weapon Terrance Gore, the speedster with three World Series rings who set up the run as a pinch runner by stealing second and moving to third on a throwing error.
The Mets added three more runs in the inning and went on to a 7-3 victory before 36,291 at Citi Field.
The Mets struck out a combined 20 batters: a season-high 13 by deGrom, a career-high five by winning pitcher Joely Rodriguez (1-4), one by Seth Lugo and the final out of the game by Trevor May.
That’s a franchise record for a nine-inning game and ties the MLB record (the ninth time it’s been done). The Mets also did not walk a batter.
“Obviously, it starts with Jake,” manager Buck Showalter said. “A lot of good pitches. The thing I was most proud of is we didn’t walk anybody.”
DeGrom is the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 13 and not walk a batter in a five-inning outing. He also set a record with his 40th consecutive start allowing three or fewer runs.
“I felt good until the sixth,” deGrom said. “Didn’t make some pitches when I needed to. In the sixth, just kind of lost it a little bit . . . The guys battled the rest of the way and ended up getting the team win.”
After allowing a leadoff double and then retiring 15 in a row, deGrom took the mound for the sixth with a 3-0 lead.
Three batters later, the lead was gone, and so was deGrom.
Zack Collins lined a single to center. Jason Delay lofted a single to right. Oneil Cruz launched a tying home run into the Pirates’ bullpen in right-center.
DeGrom, who threw a season-high 101 pitches, allowed three earned runs for the second straight start. In two outings, his ERA has climbed from 1.66 to 2.32.
In the first, deGrom allowed a leadoff double by Cruz (111 mph off the base of the right-centerfield wall) before striking out the side in a 26-pitch inning.
The Pirates, who started five rookies, came into the game tied with Miami for the fewest runs in the NL with 520.
But deGrom’s velocity was down across the board in the outing, according to MLB’s pitch-tracking technology. His fastball averaged 97.6 (down from a season average of 99.2). His slider averaged 91.3 (down from 92.9). His changeup averaged 91.2 (down from 92.3). His curveball averaged 80.0 (down from 83.3).
DeGrom said his lower fastball velo was by design, that he noticed the Pirates taking the slightly slower pitches for strikes.
“I was going arm-side quite a bit with it to those lefties and noticed that they were taking it at the lower velocity,” he said. “I was kind of mixing it up a little bit.”
Jeff McNeil gave deGrom a 1-0 lead on a first-inning RBI single off Johan Oviedo.
The Mets made it 3-0 in the second on McNeil’s bases-loaded walk and a run-scoring forceout by Pete Alonso.
Tomas Nido led off the eighth with a single and was replaced at first by Gore, who was a member of the World Series-winning Royals in 2015, Dodgers in 2020 and Atlanta in 2021.
Gore, whom the Mets signed on June 7 and called up on Aug. 31 to make him postseason-eligible, easily stole second and moved to third on Delay’s throwing error.
“That’s why he’s coveted every year,” Showalter said.
The Mets had been 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position before Nimmo hit a soft single to left off former Yankee Manny Banuelos. Gore scored his first run in the majors since 2019.
Daniel Vogelbach added a two-run single and another run scored on Eduardo Escobar’s groundout one batter after the Pirates committed their fourth error of the game.
The Mets remained one game ahead of second-place Atlanta in the NL East as the defending World Series champions beat the Phillies for their third straight win. The Mets’ magic number to clinch their first playoff spot since 2016 is two, so it could be accomplished as soon as Monday in Milwaukee.
“We’ve got to earn it,” Showalter said. “We continue on that path tomorrow.”
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.
