Mets ace Jacob deGrom slated to start Game 2 of NL Wild Card Series vs. Padres

It was the ninth inning of Friday night’s game against the Padres and much of the crowd at Citi Field already had filtered out, figuring they’d seen enough of this impotent 7-1 Mets loss. It was a funereal setting, a dirge set to lifeless chants of “Let’s Go Mets” — save, maybe, for the pitcher on the top step of the home dugout. He had his eyes trained on the field, a baseball gripped tightly in his hand, ready to get on to the next part.

Jacob deGrom will try to take on the mantle of stopper Saturday as the Mets’ Game 2 starter of this NL Wild Card Series after Max Scherzer got shelled, putting the Mets on the brink of elimination. It wasn’t a decision Buck Showalter could announce pregame; the hope was that Scherzer would lead the Mets to a Game 1 win, allowing Chris Bassitt to pitch Game 2 and potentially save deGrom for the Division Series. But by the time Scherzer was done giving up his four home runs, no announcement was really necessary: The Mets would play their ace in the hole.

“That’s what we love doing — competing and going out there in big situations,” deGrom said after Game 1. “You try to leave it all out on the field. You look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and know that you gave 100%. That’s all you can do. I’ve been in an elimination game before and I was able to battle through that one. I’ve just got to go out there and execute.”

But of course, nothing comes easy — the fact that the Mets won 101 regular-season games and might get to play only 164 is a testament to that — and that applies to deGrom, too. Untouchable earlier in the year, he has a 6.00 ERA in his last four starts, a span of 21 innings in which he’s allowed six home runs.

Part of that might have had to do with a blood blister on his finger (he says it’s healed and not affecting him now), but absolute domination is not a sure thing. And that’s an issue for the Mets, whose listless offense Friday made it look as if deGrom’s absolute domination is their only shot at staying alive.

DeGrom, though, seemed energized by the challenge late Friday night. He’s pitched in four playoff games, all in 2015, and none at home, meaning that Saturday will mark the first time he’ll have the crowd behind him in a postseason setting. (He was hurt when the Mets were eliminated in the wild-card game in 2016.)

Despite an uneven outing in Game 2 of the 2015 World Series, he’s never flinched at the bright lights. He has pitched in four previous postseason games, including NLDS Game 5 in 2015, which was an elimination game.

It’s clear, too, that deGrom feels a certain responsibility to the teammates who picked him up after he missed most of the regular season to injury. Add to that the fact that this might be his last chance as a Met; he’ll hit free agency after this season.

“I’m excited,” deGrom said. “I’ve said it before, I love pitching here. This is a great atmosphere to play in. Fans have been great to me. I’m excited to go out there and see what I can do.”

Added Pete Alonso: “This is what you want — Jake deGrom in the playoffs, playing behind him . . . This is awesome. This is fun baseball.”

“Excited,” “awesome,” “fun” — not usually the choice of words when you’ve just been blown out in Game 1 of a playoff series, but deGrom at his best has a chance to make it so. If this season is going to be anything more than a failure, the Mets absolutely need him to.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.