DeGrom Leads Charge On Mound, At Plate In Defeat of Fish

Panic City over Jacob deGrom? Those days are in the past.

The Mets’ ace has proven over his last few starts that he is back and Saturday versus the Miami Marlins was no different.

The right-hander twirled seven strong innings on the mound, and drove in a run at the plate to propel the Mets to a 4-1 victory and series win against their divisional foe.

“I wasn’t too worried,” deGrom said about his early season struggles. “I was leaving the ball over the middle of the plate, and last year that was something I didn’t really do, so I think it was just getting my location back.”

On Saturday, the lone mistake against deGrom came off the bat of the opposing pitcher, Sandy Alcantara, who drove in Miami’s lone run of the game in the third inning with a double.

DeGrom got the run back for himself in the sixth. After Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto blasted back-to-back shots, deGrom gave New York an insurance run with an RBI single back up the middle.

All and all, deGrom fired seven strong innings and struck out eight as he lowered his ERA to 3.26 on the year.

“He’s a Cy Young winner for a reason,” Alonso said, “and every time he takes that mound every fifth day, it’s definitely a morale boost for sure.”

DeGrom will get the ball again the next time the Mets play the Marlins, next weekend in Miami.

Quick Hits

Mets’ starters have posted a 2.76 ERA (19 earned runs/62.0 innings) with 11 walks and 63 strikeouts in the team’s last 10 games and a 3.65 ERA (36 earned runs/88.2 innings) with 22 walks and 87 strikeouts over the team’s last 15 games. Overall, Mets starters have a 4.47 ERA (102 earned runs/205.1 innings), which is 20th in the majors. The staff’s 220 strikeouts rank tied for fifth in the majors.

The Mets rank fifth in the majors and second in the NL with a 2.64 ERA (25 earned runs/85.1 innings) in May. Only the Cubs have a lower mark (2.60) in the NL. Offensively, the team is hitting .218 in May, ranking 25th in MLB.

In his 146 career starts, deGrom has allowed one or no runs 67 times (46 percent). That is the most such starts since at least 1908 within a pitcher’s first 146 career games and six more than the next-closest (Kershaw, 61).