Hot Foot
May 3, 2023
According to my research, in the history of the franchise, this game ranks as the second highest game score of all time for a Mets pitcher, only behind David Cone's effort on the last day of the 1991 season. Briefly, here are the top five Mets game scores of all time:
1. David Cone, Oct 6, 1991 (GS 99), 2. Jacob deGrom, Apr 23, 2021 (GS 98), 3. Matt Harvey May 7, 2013 (GS 97), 4. Tom Seaver, May 15, 1970 (GS 97), and 5. a tie between Tom Seaver on April 22, 1970, Tom Seaver on July 9, 1969, Tom Seaver on July 4, 1972, R.A. Dickey on June 18, 2012, Chris Capuano (!) on August 26, 2011, all with a game score of 96.
Therefore, this was Jacob deGrom's best start ever, and the second best start in Mets history, at least according to the game score metric, so I had to revisit it. Also, I find it weird that I don't remember this game from only two years ago. Honestly, all I remember from this stretch of pitching greatness is worrying that Jake's arm might 'break'.
Jake came into this game 1-1 with an 0.45 ERA, and 35 K in 20 IP.
His first opposing batter struck out on a 101 MPH heater. Snapping 100 MPH fastballs right on the corner, the ease in which he dispatched opposing batters almost seemed mechanical. Indeed, the deGrominator was a perfect nickname for him. It kind of makes sense why I took him for granted; he was like a pitching machine spitting out 100 MPH heaters on the corners to a team of 12-year olds. Not only this game, but every game that he pitched after he cut his hair.
Watching this game now, even in the first inning, this is like every other Jacob deGrom start from 2018-2021; you could count on him for 7 innings, double-digit strikeouts, 0 or 1 ER, and a tie game or slim lead that the bullpen would blow half the time.
2021 was a weird year for the Mets. The NL East was extremely weak (Atlanta clinched first with 88 wins) and the Mets were 5.5 games up on June 26. They stayed in first place until Aug 13 and then they imploded, pretty much when deGrom got hurt and was shelved for the year (his last 2021 start was on July 7). Yet, all I remember from 2021 is the Ratcoon Game and my anger in my aftermath of the 'Thumbs-Down Protest' (flashbacks of Rey Ordonez from 2002 came to mind). The Mets' collapse was so damaging (9-19 in August, followed by an 11-16 September, and 1-2 record in October) that the entire Mets 2021 season was wiped from my temporal lobe.
Back to this one. In the 5th inning, the SNY camera cut to a lady in the stands with a sign that said: 'Score RUNS For JAKE. PLEASE'. That sign pretty much summed up deGrom's later years on the Mets.
True to form, in the bottom of the 5th, JAKE THE SNAKE (my secret nickname for him) hit a hard opposite field double to make it 1-0. He did that a lot didn't he? Two more hits by Nimmo and Lindor made the score 3-0 Mets at the end of five innings.
In the 7th inning, Jake was still throwing 100 MPH. With his 14th strikeout (in the 7th inning), he set a record for the most strikeouts in MLB history after four starts. He also became the third pitcher in MLB history to tally 14 strikeouts for three starts in a row, joining Pedro Martinez (1999) and Gerrit Cole (2019).
To end the seventh inning, Jake struck out his 15th batter, a career high, earning a standing ovation from the sparse Citi Field crowd (10,782 in attendance). It was also the most strikeouts in a game for a Mets pitcher since David Cone in 1991.
After eight innings, the deGrominator had retired 16 batters in a row. When he came to bat in the bottom of the 8th inning, "MVP" chants could be heard, and Jake lined a single for his second hit of the game, which prompted Gary Cohen to say, "He is just a phenomenon."
After this game, Jake's batting average was .545 and his OPS was 1.182. He ended the year (the last year that pitchers hit in MLB) with a .364 batting average in 33 at bats.
Brandon Nimmo drove Jake in with a line-drive home run to make it 6-0. In the 9th, Jake retired the last three batters in a row, so he ended this one with 19 batters retired in a row to end the game.
Jake's final numbers for this gem were 15 K, a shutout (one of two in his career and his last to date), 0 BB, 2 H, 109 pitches thrown, 84 for strikes. At the end of this game, he had registered 50 Ks in 29 IP and a 0.31 ERA on his way to an injury-shortened 1.08 ERA campaign with 146 K in 92 IP.
"Jacob deGrom. The best," was the way Gary Cohen summed this one up.
I'll put it this way. Yes Virginia, there was a deGrominator.
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