Bullpen blows Jacob deGrom's gem, but Mets top Marlins on Wilson Ramos' RBI single
Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom delivers against the Marlins during the second inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Mets did it to Jacob deGrom. Again.
A brilliant deGrom tied his career high with 14 strikeouts and left Wednesday night’s game against the Marlins at Citi Field after seven innings with a three-run lead.
But the Mets’ bullpen allowed Miami to tie the score in the eighth inning to saddle deGrom with a no-decision. DeGrom allowed one run and two hits and walked two. He also struck out 14 Marlins on April 3, 2019.
Wilson Ramos’ two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the eighth saved the night for the Mets as they went on to beat the Marlins, 5-4.
The same thing happened in deGrom’s last start when the bullpen blew his lead, but Michael Conforto hit a ninth-inning home run to lead the Mets to a victory in Miami.
On Wednesday, Robinson Cano started the eighth with a single and was replaced by pinch runner Billy Hamilton. After Pete Alonso made the first out, Jeff McNeil hit a comebacker – a perfect potential inning-ending double play ball – that pitcher Nick Vincent bobbled.
Vincent was able to get the out at first, but Hamilton moved to second. Ramos followed with a line single to right to give the Mets back the lead.
After deGrom left, the Mets saw the trickle-down effect of their decision to move Seth Lugo into the rotation as Justin Wilson, Edwin Diaz and Brad Brach combined to allow three runs in the eighth – the last two on bases-loaded walks.
Wilson gave up three hits in a four-batter span as Miami loaded the bases. Diaz came in and struck out Jesus Sanchez for the second out, but gave up an RBI single to Jesus Aguilar and walked Corey Dickerson to force in a run to make it 4-3.
Diaz fell behind Brian Anderson 2-and-1 before leaving the game with an apparent injury. Brach came in and completed the walk to Anderson to tie the score. The walk and the blown save were charged to Diaz.
DeGrom must have realized he had a crackling fastball when he took the mound. Because he used it.
Twelve of deGrom’s strikeouts came on fastballs ranging from 98 to 100 miles per hour. He left after striking out seven of his last nine batters.
The four runs were an uncommon display of offensive support for deGrom by the Mets, who were shut out in both ends of a seven-inning doubleheader by Miami on Tuesday after a five-day COVID-19 layoff.
Conforto and Brandon Nimmo hit upper-deck solo homers to right. Cano had an RBI double for the game’s first run and Dom Smith added an RBI groundout in the fifth.
DeGrom opened the game by striking out Jon Berti looking at a 99 mile per hour fastball.
The speeds on his next seven strikeouts read like a forecast for August in Florida: 100, 100, 98, 98, 100, 99, 99.
It wasn’t until deGrom struck out Jonathan Villar with a 92-mph slider in the fifth that he got a strikeout on a breaking pitch.
Smith takes knee. Smith took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before Wednesday’s game. Smith, who is Black, is believed to be the first Mets player to do so. Smith held his Mets cap over his heart during the anthem.
Earlier this season, Smith declined to join other players around baseball (including Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks of the Yankees) who kneeled during the anthem.
“For me, taking a knee just isn’t enough,” Smith said on July 21, three days before the Mets began their season. “If you really want to show change, then there are things you can do on your own time during the offseason to show how much you really want to change.”
NBA, WNBA and some MLB games were postponed on Wednesday when players decided to boycott over the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Two Black baseball players – Jason Heyward of the Cubs and Matt Kemp of the Rockies – decided not to play in their teams’ games on Wednesday.
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.
