Mets vs. Cardinals Recap: deGrom gets hit around, while the offense is unable to hit

The Mets were blown out by the Cardinals 8-1 on Wednesday night. Mets fans entered the night hopeful, as the team was sitting on a modest three-game winning streak. The game got off to a less-than-ideal start, as the Mets went down 1-2-3 in the top of the first inning before Matt Carpenter hit a leadoff home run.

Jay Bruce led off the second inning with a bloop double down the left field line. After a James Loney first-pitch fly out, Bruce then left the game with what has been described as a calf cramp. He was replaced on second base by Alejandro De Aza, who promptly scored on an Asdrubal Cabrera double. Cabrera was quickly stranded, as Kelly Johnson and Travis d’Arnaud needed only five pitches to hit into a pair of ground outs. From that point on, the Mets’ offense effectively disappeared.

In the bottom of the second inning, Jacob deGrom engaged in a desperate Houdini act to avoid giving up the tie. Yadier Molina led off the inning with a double. He then inexplicably tried to steal third base and was thrown out by deGrom. Jhonny Peralta struck out, but Randal Grichuk laced a double to center field to keep the pressure on deGrom. Greg Garcia lined the next pitch into right field for a single, but Curtis Granderson threw him out at home plate.

deGrom was less fortunate in the third-through-fifth innings. Stephen Piscotty singled home a run in the third inning, though deGrom escaped without further harm. In the fourth inning, Randal Grichuk hit a solo home run with one out. Three batters later, deGrom managed to strand Garcia and Carlos Martinez when Carpenter lined into a double play. deGrom’s luck ran out in the fifth inning. He gave up a two-run home run to Stephen Piscotty, and allowed a further single and walk before handing the reins to Erik Goeddel. Goeddel escaped the fifth inning without further damage, but he and Hansel Robles went on to allow three more runs before the game was over.

Jacob deGrom was dominant through late July and early August, but tonight he had his second-straight rough start. In his last two starts—against admittedly strong offenses in the Giants and Cardinals—deGrom has pitched a total of 9.2 innings, while allowing a Pelfrey-esque 25 hits, 13 runs, and 4 home runs. While his BABIP for the two games sits over .500, deGrom has not been getting cheated by the luck dragon. He has given up consistently hard contact, especially tonight against the Cardinals. If the Mets are to have any shot at a Wild Card spot, they need deGrom to stop giving up such outlandishly hard contact.

The Mets will play the rubber game of their series against the Cardinals tonight at 7:15 EDT. Seth Lugo will start for the Mets opposite Adam Wainwright.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big winners: Asdrubal Cabrera (+10%)
Big losers: Jacob deGrom (-28.7%), Travis d’Arnaud (-12.3%)
Teh aw3s0mest play: Asdrubal Cabrera’s RBI double in the 2nd +11.2%)
Teh sux0rest play: Stephen Piscotty’s RBI single in the 3rd -11.7%
Total pitcher WPA: -28.9%
Total batter WPA: -21.1%
GWRBI!: Stephen Piscotty