Mets vs. Rockies Recap: deGrom sensational as the Mets zoo grows

The Mets shut out the Rockies for a second straight night, winning 3-0. Jacob deGrom was masterful over seven innings, and some of the newer Mets contributed all the offensive support he would need. Juan Uribe and Michael Cuddyer both had RBIs and hit their 1,500 career hit in the game, while Yoenis Cespedes blasted his first long ball in a Mets  uniform.

The first three innings were quiet. deGrom struck out four Rockies and allowed a hit and a walk, while the Mets went hitless until Juan Lagares singled to lead off the fourth. After moving to second on two ground outs, the first of which moved Lagares to second, the Mets had their latest animal visit, this time from a Parakeet on the webbing behind home plate. Juan Uribe then blasted an RBI double to score Lagares. Cuddyer followed with an RBI single (his 1,500 hit), and the Mets had a 2-0 lead. Appropriately, this earned the bird, hereafter referred to as the Rally-keet, its place in Met history.

deGrom ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth after giving up a leadoff double to DJ LeMahieu and a walk to Michael McKenry. However, thanks to two strikeouts and some bad Rockie baserunning, deGrom escaped unscathe. It was the only time the Rockies would make any significant threat, and deGrom ended his evening with seven scoreless innings, four walks, two hits allowed, and four strikeouts. Carlos Gonzalez had some high praise for deGrom after the game, calling him "the best pitcher in the game, hands down." While that praise might be a bit of an overreaction, deGrom has certainly been a pleasure to watch this season.

The Rally-keet was not done bestowing gifts upon Met hitters. There was little doing offensively between the fourth and eight innings, aside from an infield single that gave Uribe his 1,500 career hit, but that changed when Cespedes came up to the plate. Here, it's worthwhile to consider Cespedes's attire for a moment:

Speaking of Cespedes, MLB's always vigilant GIF department thought you might want to see this. pic.twitter.com/eYGsyUAwGr

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 13, 2015

Cespedes  channeled the power of the Rally-keet and lined a home run to the right-center field, his first with the Mets. His solo shot stretched the lead to three runs.

Jeurys Familia came on to pitch the ninth and had little trouble dispatching the Rockies. DJ LeMahieu hit a hard two out single, but Familia froze the next Rockies hitter with a wicked slider to secure his 32nd save of the season. Of note is Familia's second pitch to Colorado first baseman Ben Paulsen, which registered as a 93 miles per hour sinker but was more likely one of the hardest changeups you'll ever see, just another weapon for Familia to torture hitters with late in games.

The win pushed the Mets back to their high water mark of ten games above .500. Their 41-18 home record is their best ever through 59 home games, topping the 2000 Mets (who went on to win the National League Pennant). In Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw shut down the Nationals, helping the Mets to stretch their lead in the division to 3.5 games. Mets pitchers have now kept the Rockies off the board for 23 consecutive innings, and there's a decent chance that streak will continue with Noah Syndergaard taking the mound for an afternoon game on Thursday.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Purple Row GameThread

Win Probability Added

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Big winners: Jacob deGrom, +36% WPA; Juan Uribe, +14% WPA; Michael Cuddyer, +9% WPA
Big losers: Ruben Tejada, -10% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Uribe doubles to drive in Juan Lagares in the fourth, +15.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Ruben Tejada grounds into a double play in the third inning, -8.1% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +6% WPA
Total batter WPA: +44% WPA
GWRBI!: Juan Uribe