Jacob deGrom strikes out fourteen, but Mets’ offense falters in loss

If anyone ever asks you about the quintessential Jacob deGrom start, last night’s at Citi Field might be the best answer you can give. In seven innings of work, deGrom was dominant, as he racked up fourteen strikeouts to match his career high. Along the way, he gave up a couple of runs, one on a solo home run but the other on a sacrifice fly that was at least partially the result of the Mets’ defense missing an opportunity to record an out on the bases.

On top of that, the Mets’ offense was most lifeless, with the highlight of their night coming on a well-hit infield single by Jeff McNeil with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning. That plated a run, but that was all they managed against six Rays pitchers, none of whom went more than three innings.

With that, deGrom has a 2.14 ERA that has him still in the Cy Young race but likely needing a little bit of help and a scoreless outing in his final start of the season. And the Mets are 24-30, meaning they’ll need to go 6-0 in their remaining games this year just to finish .500, a feat that seems very unlikely—and one that might not result in them getting one of the National League’s eight playoff spots even if they pull it off.

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue
DRays Bay

Box scores

MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added

FanGraphs

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Jeff McNeil, +10.0% WPA
Big Mets loser: Dominic Smith, -16.6% WPA
Mets pitchers: +17.2% WPA
Mets hitters: -67.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jeff McNeil hits an RBI infield single in the fifth, +12.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Joey Wendle hits a double in the second, -11.2% WPA