Despite an elbow injury last year, Jacob deGrom was the best pitcher in baseball from 2018 through 2021 based on several measures. His earned run average of 1.94 during that span was markedly lower than anyone else’s in baseball. He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2018 and 2019, and finish third for the prize in 2020.
But during that period, the Mets made zero trips to the postseason, fueling a sentiment among fans — and within the team — that the prime years of deGrom’s career were being wasted. This year was the final guaranteed chance to make a playoff run with deGrom, who, despite his stated love of the Mets, has repeatedly said he will exercise the opt-out clause in his contract extension this winter.
Given the chance to pitch in the postseason for the first time in seven years, deGrom saved the Mets’ season for one more day. Facing elimination in the best-of-three wild-card series against the San Diego Padres, deGrom delivered six strong innings and the Mets’ offense came to life in a 7-3 win on Saturday night that evened the series. He wasn’t his sharpest but it was enough to force a decisive Game 3.
“Jake, he set the tone right from the start,” first baseman Pete Alonso said. “He poured his heart out there for us.”
Similar sentiments were shared by many Mets players after the win.
“He’s the best,” Eduardo Escobar said of deGrom in Spanish. “And he really showed it again.”
The Mets’ season — and the Padres’, for that matter — now comes down to Sunday. Chris Bassitt, the Mets’ most durable starting pitcher during the regular season, will face off against Joe Musgrove, the All-Star who led the Padres rotation with a 2.93 E.RA.
The prize? Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, the best team in baseball and winners of 111 regular-season games, in a best-of-five division series beginning on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
To beat the Padres on Saturday, the Mets relied on their cornerstone players: shortstop Francisco Lindor, Alonso, second baseman Jeff McNeil and deGrom. Lindor and Alonso each homered, while McNeil, the N.L. batting champion, broke the game open with a two-run double in the seventh inning. The Mets’ bullpen — led by closer Edwin Díaz, who was called upon when it was a one-run game — provided stout relief.
But the bulk of the game belonged to deGrom, 34, who struck out eight. Injuries derailed his past two seasons. When he returned from a shoulder injury in Aug. 2, it was his first start in the major leagues in 13 months. He helped the Mets over the final two months of the regular season and Saturday was the first time he pitched on the sport’s biggest stage, the postseason, since Game 2 of the 2015 World Series, which the Mets lost to the Kansas City Royals.
DeGrom said it crossed his mind that if the Mets didn’t win, it could be his last start for the only franchise he’s known.
“But the hope was we’d win a baseball game and continue to keep playing,” he said. “The goal was to put us in a position to win or give us a chance and pass it on to Bassitt.”
Against the Padres, deGrom did his part by coming out firing. Ten of the 12 pitches he threw in the first inning were 100 miles per hour or more. Padres right fielder Juan Soto fell over swinging at a 101-m.p.h. pitch and eventually struck out on a 102-m.p.h. fastball, causing the sellout crowd of 42,156 to roar.
The same energy continued into the bottom half of the frame. Lindor gave his team a 1-0 lead with a solo blast off Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell. The next few innings seesawed between deGrom and Snell. DeGrom, at times, wasn’t as dominant as the game progressed but he used strikeouts or induced groundouts to escape jams, allowing his team’s offense to break through.
The Padres tied the score in the third inning when Trent Grisham, one of the Padres’ heroes in Game 1, homered. After posting a .184 average and a .341 slugging percentage during the regular season, Grisham has now sent balls over the fence against two of the best pitchers in baseball — Max Scherzer and deGrom — on back to back nights.
The Mets pulled ahead, 2-1, in the fourth inning when they took advantage of Snell’s wildness; he walked six over three and one-third innings. After third baseman Eduardo Escobar and designated hitter Darin Ruf walked, Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo’s third hit of the night was an opposite-field run-scoring single.
But the lead didn’t last long. DeGrom allowed the Padres to tie the score at 2 when he walked Grisham and Jurickson Profar sneaked a ball fair down the first base line for a run-scoring single.
The Mets quickly recovered and retook the lead. To start the bottom of the fifth inning, Alonso slammed the first pitch he saw from reliever Nick Martinez into the left field seats for a 3-2 lead. Alonso, who led the Mets with 40 home runs and tied Aaron Judge for the major league lead with 131 runs batted in, waved his arms and prompted the crowd to make more noise after he crossed home plate.
“Being able to come up clutch in a spot like that to get the lead, that was awesome,” Alonso said. “Hopefully I can hit a few more like that tomorrow and moving forward.”
After deGrom exited the game, Mets Manager Buck Showalter summoned Díaz earlier than usual, in the seventh inning. But the Mets offense gave him breathing room with a four-run outburst. After a single by Lindor and walks by left fielder Mark Canha and Alonso, McNeil drilled his key hit and flexed his arms toward his teammates from second base. DeGrom watched from the dugout.
Adam Ottavino took over for Díaz with one out in the eighth inning, and proceeded to jangle some nerves by issuing a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the ninth. But Seth Lugo came in and retired Josh Bell to end the game without any further damage.
Now in order to get deGrom another postseason start, and keep playing in October, the Mets need another win on Sunday.
