deMaster of his craft

Despite only pitching 5.2 innings in the hot afternoon sun at Citi Field, Jacob deGrom reminded everyone who may have forgotten while he was injured that he is the best pitcher in the game.

Over those 5.2 innings, deGrom struck out a staggering 12 batters, and was nearly perfect all the way through. As he was approaching his mandated pitch count of 75, he walked Ehire Adrianza on five pitches — the first base runner of the game for the Braves — and served up a two run home run to Dansby Swanson, which chased him from the game. His final line would read: 5.2 innings pitched, one hit, two earned runs, and 12 strikeouts. He was simply magnificent.

The Mets offense did more than enough to get deGrom the win, doing most of their damage early on. They got to Spencer Strider (who did not want any smoke in probably the biggest game of the year for Atlanta) in the third, dropping four runs in the frame. Two of the runs came on a Pete Alonso double off the third base bag, and two by a double by Mark Canha (which saw Daniel Vogelbach wonderfully score from first). Jeff McNeil single-handedly added an insurance run in the fifth, hitting a hustle double, advancing to third on a sacrifice fly, and scampering home on a wild pitch.

The bullpen decided to do their best Jacob deGrom impression after he was lifted, as Joely Rodríguez had his best performance of the season, by far. The lefty surrendered just one hit over 2.1 innings of relief, striking out four and putting nearly every Braves batter in a blender with his change up. Edwin Díaz came in for the ninth and did as he does, striking out the side in dominant fashion and finishing off a completely dominant Sunday afternoon performance, after a dominant series victory.

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Win Probability Added

Fangraphs.com

Big Mets winner: Jacob deGrom, +15.7% WPA
Big Mets loser: Starling Marte, -8.8% WPA
Mets pitchers: +26.6% WPA
Mets hitters: +23.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso’s two RBI double in the third, +16.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Dansby Swanson’s two run home run in the sixth, -5.5% WPA