Pitching against an undermanned and overmatched Colorado lineup, deGrom laid down the hammer and stifled his opponent for 8 innings, in which he allowed 3 hits, no walks, no runs and 9 strikeouts, pacing the way to a 2-0 Mets victory.
At this point, it's pretty easy to anoint deGrom as the Mets pitcher everyone is hanging their hat on for 2014. Since Harvey's been out, Wheeler has been inconsistent and Colon lacks staying power, who else would it be but deGrom, who has taken off once he managed to get himself in the victory column. After starting his career at 0-4—equal parts Rookie jitters and lack of run support—deGrom has run off an 8-2 record and forcibly interjected himself into the discussion of National League Rookie of the Year. This isn't quite the way things had looked at the start of the season, and even when deGrom was called up in May, he wasn't expected to be a part of the rotation. But he's not only started, he's thrived and he's made himself a part of the discussion for the Mets extending into the 2015 season. He's proven himself popular enough that even I went down to the Majestic shop before last night's game and purchased myself a new Jacob deGrom shirt. Yes, the only reason I did that was because I had all these T-shirt coupons from the Free Shirt Friday shirts I've been given this season, and I don't need to necessarily use them, but I felt it necessary to update my Mets shirt stock (which currently boasts shirts of players who aren't on the team anymore) and who better than deGrom?
deGrom comes away from Tuesday night as the story of the game, which could have gotten away from the Mets at the end because the offense did the absolute minimum against anonymous Colorado starter Christian Bergman, plating single runs in the 5th and 6th and doing nothing else of note. In the 9th, with the 2-0 lead still tenuous, Jenrry Mejia came in and dug himself a hole that he couldn't get himself out of, allowing the Colorados to load the bases with 1 out, throwing a Wild Pitch and walking Nolan Arenado in the process. Wisely, Collins removed Mejia from the game before things could get ugly, and although it took one-batter efforts from both Josh Edgin and Jeurys Familia, they managed to get the one batter they needed to get respectively, and closed out the win. So that in the end, we remember this game for deGrom's strong performance and not from the Mets frittering away victory thanks to their general inability to do things.
The good vibes for the Mets should last at least one more night—the Colorados are still here for another game before Washington comes to town and the fun likely ends.
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