One of the themes that the Mets' television broadcasters often talk about is just how fickle baseball can be. Perception can change quickly in this game, and especially in New York, where the mood surrounding a team is often influenced by sports talk radio or television. There are no better examples of this fickleness than Jacob deGrom and Wilmer Flores, who went from being two of the more concerning players on the Mets just a few weeks ago to two of their best recently.
Jacob deGrom looked like he was going to get off to a slow start tonight. He was looking to do something that no one on the club had ever done: retire twenty-nine straight batters. deGrom would need just two perfect innings to complete the feat, but instead, Ben Revere flipped a single to left field to begin the game, and there would be no record broken in Flushing. But what followed from deGrom was seven innings of mastery.
The second inning saw deGrom strike out the side, with all three Phillies going down swinging. The top of the third was much of the same, as he caught Carlos Ruiz looking and Jerome Williams whiffed on a fastball, before Revere was able to finally put a ball into play for an out. Jacob deGrom had just struck out five straight, and all the chatter about sophomore slumps and flashes in the pan seemed to be drifting ever further away.
The Mets would find their offense in the bottom of that third inning, as well. After Kevin Plawecki scorched a ball that Chase Utley couldn't handle and Curtis Granderson walked, Lucas Duda was able to shoot a ball up the middle that plated a run. Michael Cuddyer came up with a chance to do more damage and succeeded when he laced a single into left, which brought home two runs.
From there, the cruise control was flipped on for Jacob deGrom. He gave up only two hits in the next four innings—one of which was to the opposing pitcher, Jerome Williams, of course—and walked no one. deGrom tossed seven scoreless and was right around 100 pitches when he returned to the dugout, and he came out to bat in the bottom of the inning.
deGrom started the eighth with a quick out, but he then ran into trouble. His breaking pitches looked flat at that point, and he was paid when Carlos Ruiz and Cesar Hernandez singled in back-to-back at-bats. Terry Collins brought in Hansel Robles to spell deGrom. Robles promptly gave up a two-run triple to Revere and a single to Freddy Galvis.
The Mets' bullpen's poor night continued with Alex Torres, who allowed a single to Chase Utley but was able to get Ryan Howard out before Carlos Torres came in. Carlos gave up the lead on a Maikel Franco single.
The Mets' savior on this particular night, however, would be none other than the embattled Wilmer Flores. After the lead had been blown in the eighth, it was Flores who was able to bring Lucas Duda home on a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the eighth, and it was Flores who provided the game-winning hit in the tenth.
After Jeurys Familia pitched two scoreless innings, the Mets' offense showed some signs of life in the tenth. Juan Lagares slapped a ball up the middle, and Lucas Duda drew a walk. The Mets then got a favorable result when Daniel Murphy grounded into a double play that moved Lagares to third. After Michael Cuddyer was pitched around, Flores smoked a ball into left field. In a way, it felt like it was coming. Flores had made good contact to the same spot in two other at-bats.
SB Nation GameThreads
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Wilmer Flores, 39.0% WPA, Lucas Duda, 32.1% WPA, Jacob deGrom, 23.9% WPA
Big losers: Hansel Robles, -40.7% WPA, Carlos Torres, -23.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Wilmer Flores's single in the tenth, +37.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Daniel Murphy's double play in the tenth, -18.5% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -15.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: -35.0% WPA
GWRBI!: Wilmer Flores