Jacob DeGrom, who was throwing 100 mph fastballs on the first day of spring training, not only held the Phillies scoreless, he also got a hit in his first at bat. This was the first time in Mets history that a pitcher had the first hit of the season. In his second at bat, he hit a single to left field to drive in a run and make it 2-0.

After Jake struck out Bryce Harper with a 100 mph fastball to end the sixth inning, he had struck out 7, given up just 3 hits, and had retired his last 9 in a row, yet Luis Rojas channeled his inner Mickey Callaway (regarding management of pitchers!) by removing the DeGrominator when he was cruising with just 77 pitches thrown. That strikeout of Harper was the last pitch he would throw in this game.

Miguel Castro came in to start the 7th and pitched a scoreless inning despite giving up a couple of loud outs. In the 8th inning, Trevor May came in for his Mets debut and it did not go well. He could only get one out and left the game with the bases loaded. Aaron Loup, also in his Mets debut, hit Bryce Harper, then gave up a hit, eventually allowing all of May's inherited runners to score (aided by a Guillorme throwing error) plus two more runs for good measure. The score was 5-2 Phillies at the end of the 8th. Thanks Luis!

The Mets staged a small, failed comeback attempt in the top of the ninth. After two outs, singles by Pillar and Lindor (their first Mets hits) led to Conforto batting as the tying run. He hit a line drive to right and Harper got a glove on it but it bounced away. It was ruled a single even though it seemed the game was over until the ball bounced off Harper's glove.

Pillar scored on the play and it was now 5-3 Phillies with Pete Alonso coming up as the go-ahead run. On the first pitch, he hit a long drive to right that was caught in front of the wall by Harper. So instead of Alonso delivering a thrilling come-from-behind go-ahead homer, Mets fans were left asking questions: Why was DeGrom removed after 77 pitches (memories of Mickey)? Why was Dom Smith left out of the lineup (even after the Phillies removed their left-handed starter in the 4th inning). Why are those Kars for Kids commercials so catchy? They remind me of Mickey Callaway!

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.

As I'm writing this, deGrom has an admittedly unlikely bid to finish the season with an ERA under 1.12, surpassing Bob Gibson's 1968. It is July. He is undeniably the best pitcher in the game.

It was all a big mystery during the game but Howie and Wayne were speculating that McNeil's face was puffy as if he had been roughed up, and they explained it by Lindor and McNeil getting in each other's ways on ground balls in their direction, resulting in busted plays and apparent frustration. So after the game, I was on edge waiting for the press conference during the postgame show and Lindor explained it by saying he saw a rat in the tunnel. And a reporter asked him it looked like he was mad at McNeil, and Lindor said he was mad at McNeil because McNeil said it was a raccoon and not a rat and McNeil was mad at him doubting it was a raccoon, more or less. While explaining this, he sounded like a 7 year old explaining why his little brother had a black eye, talking about a rat. As an aside, if Lindor can't hit for Mets, at least he can create entertaining stories.

Anyway, in the next game, McNeil hit a homer. During the postgame press conference Lindor came out and hugged McNeil and told everyone it was a "ratcoon", hence the "ratcoon game".

The Mets are a bit of a disheveled mess this year. But we can take solace in the fact that the Yankees are the real mess in town.

The Mets, running on empty for pitching due to Taijuan Walker's dud in Pittsburgh the day before, started Jerad Eickhoff, who the Mets backed in the first with homers from Alonso and McNeil. Eickhoff proceeded to give the lead right to the Reds, helped by three (3!) uncharacteristic errors from Guillorme at short. And with no Lindor on the bench, the Mets couldn't really take him out.

Conforto continues his sudden hot streak by going deep for 3 in the 4th. Smith ties it with a Dom Bomb in the 5th. The Mets have as many home runs as errors. But this game wasn't even close to being over. Noted enemy Jesse Winker gives the Reds the lead in the 7th. McCann homers to get it back in the 8th. In the 9th, "elite" closer Diaz walks the 8 hitter on 4 pitches, and with 2 outs Winker doubles him in. It's an absolute mess of a baseball game.

The Mets score. Anthony Banda, in his first Mets appearance, lets the Reds tie it. Votto, the winning run, is stranded at 3rd base. The Mets then put up 5 in the 11th with homers from Pillar and Conforto. And yet, the Reds made it close. Nick Castellanos, coming off the IL to a huge ovation in the midst of an All-Star season, hit a ball that was feet away from a three-run homer off Trevor May. Somehow, after all that, the Mets won. And they didn't even have their manager!

Stro was dealing and was totally dialed in. Very few antics, barely looked up from the field when walking out or in. The crusher was Dom's Grand Slam. Another great day at a beautiful ballpark in a great city.