With deGrom firing a one-hit shutout, the Mets rolled to a 5-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park, perhaps the flawless appetizer for their three-game series against the Cubs that begins Monday.
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Jacob deGrom struck out seven and didn’t allow a runner in scoring position.
National League manager Terry Collins ultimately decided not to select Jacob deGrom to the All-Star Game because New York Mets officials believed the right-hander needed the break to exhale, both physically and mentally.
“One hundred and sixty-two games is a lot, and we’re over halfway through”, deGrom said.
-This took place during Dickey’s Cy Young season.
Curtis Granderson hit a solo homer in the third. “We’ve got to work on that a little bit and try to do better”.
After deGrom endured a first half of the season filled with concern about a dip in velocity and a lat injury that forced him to miss two starts, he began the second half nearly as well as any pitcher could. Jose Reyes followed with an RBI double to left-center to make it 3-0.
Asked about his chugging all the way around the bases, deGrom smiled and said, “That’s what I was thinking”. The 28-year-old has permitted three runs on 16 hits in his last three outings (20 frames) to wash the sour taste out of his mouth following a three-start losing skid.
“There was all that concern about (deGrom’s) velocity and everything else early but he’s gotten a little stronger and a little stronger and he showed the rest did him good”.
Eflin was far from flawless on this day, allowing three runs on five hits, walking and striking out two batters each over the course of six innings. “After that, you want the shutout”.
“You go every five days and that’s a lot of throwing”, deGrom said.
Catcher Rene Rivera said he knew in the first inning that deGrom was capable of a dynamite outing, and Collins said deGrom had his best sinker of the season.
“I do, I really do”, Franco said when asked if he’s feeling good. “Today, for some reason, every time I went out there I was just acting like it was the first inning and just trying to get three outs and get back in the dugout”. DeGrom’s won-loss record is depressed primarily because of a 10-start winless stretch during which the Mets barely supported him.
Juan Lagares gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the second when he lined a triple to right. Eickhoff earned a no-decision Saturday night but kept his team in the game on the way to a 4-2 Phillies win.
Starling Marte’s homer eventually secured a 2-1 victory in a game that lasted nearly six hours.
Mets: OF Yoenis Cespedes returned to the lineup after sitting out the first two games to rest his strained right quadriceps. The second-year supposed ace, only one year removed from making his Phillies debut, is scheduled to start Monday at Citizens Bank Park against the Miami Marlins.
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The New York Yankees avoided a series sweep against rivals the Boston Red Sox with a 3-1 win at Yankee Stadium.
