deGrom strikes out twelve, Mets hit five home runs in victory over Yankees

Jacob deGrom must be pinching himself, as he got a ton of run support for the second consecutive start in an 8-5 win over the Yankees last night. The Mets hit five home runs, and that was more than enough support for the dominant deGrom. Strengthening his Cy Young case, deGrom struck out 12 and allowed only two earned runs in 6.2 innings, earning his seventh win of the season.

Amed Rosario got things off to a fast start, teeing off on a 3-1 pitch from Luis Severino for a leadoff home run in the top of the first. Brandon Nimmo followed with a double, and he came around to score on a single from Jeff McNeil. Giving deGrom a 2-0 lead before he touches the ball is usually a recipe for success, and he repaid the favor by recording four strikeouts in the first two innings.

Unfortunately, some rough defense undermined deGrom in the third. A single and a walk put two Yankees on to start the inning, and a ball that should’ve been a double play (credit to Brett Garnder for a good, clean slide that still got in the way) turned into a run when Jeff McNeil threw the ball away. Two batters later, Aaron Hicks drove in another run with a single, and the game was tied at two.

The tie didn’t last long, as a pair of veterans came through for the Mets in the top of the fourth. Austin Jackson singled and Jose Bautista hit a short-porch-assisted home run to right that re-established the two run lead. deGrom handed one of those runs back in the fifth on a double from Brett Gardner and an RBI single from Didi Gregorius, but the Mets offense picked him up again, this time with a solo shot from Todd Frazier.

At that point, deGrom decided he had enough. Given a two run lead for the third time, deGrom blew threw the final five batters of his outing, striking out two in the sixth and another in the seventh before being pulled with two outs. He finished with twelve strikeouts in 6.2 innings, allowing only two runs on five hits and two walks. It was a stellar start against a a good offense, and should keep him neck-and-neck with Max Scherzer in the NL Cy Young race.

Meanwhile, the Mets two young lefty outfielders added to the lead. Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto went back-to-back with solo home runs in the top of the seventh off of AJ Cole. Those runs proved crucial as Seth Lugo allowed a two-run home run to Miguel Andujar in the bottom of the eighth that kept the Yankees within striking distance at 7-5.

Jeff McNeil came through again to give the Mets some extra insurance, this time with some help from Gleyber Torres. A hit batter and a single put runners on first and second with one out in the top of the ninth, and McNeil hit a sharp ground ball to short. Didi Gregorius made a great play to get to the ball, but Torres rushed the transfer at second and dropped it, allowing a run to score to stretch the met lead to 8-5.

Robert Gsellman didn’t need the help anyway. He set down the Yankees in order to record his seventh save of the year, the Mets 50th win of the year, and a split of the Subway Series. The Mets are now 50-62. putting them on a just-a-bit-too-nice 70 win pace. Their makeup game complete, the Mets will head to Baltimore to face one of the few teams more depressing than them in the Orioles. Jason Vargas, whose WHIP is now higher than Jacob deGrom’s ERA, will start against Andrew Cashner.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Jose Bautista, +14.1% WPA; Brandon Nimmo, +13.1% WPA
Big losers: None
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jose Bautista hits a two-run home run off of Luis Severino to give the Mets a 4-2 lead in the fourth, +18.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Didi Gregorius singles to center to cut the Met lead to 4-3 in the fifth, -11.1% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +7.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: +42.1% WPA
GWRBI!: Brandon Nimmo