PHILADELPHIA -- Maybe, Jacob deGrom simply benefitted from an 11-day hiatus. It would make sense that a breather would help a season after emptying the tank deep into October.
Whatever the reason, the one-man wrecking crew who descended upon Citizens Bank Park on Sunday was a sight to behold. In the Mets’ 5-0 victory over the Phillies, deGrom tossed a one-hit shutout. It was both his first complete game and shutout in the major leagues.
DeGrom struck out seven, walked one, and nearly collected a “Maddux” -- or a shutout in fewer than 100 pitches -- a specialty of the great Greg Maddux. He needed 105 pitches to complete his masterpiece. The ninth inning began with deGrom at just 89 pitches.
With his bat, deGrom triggered a two-out rally with a single and later scored a run, gobbling ground with his long strides like a long-haired gazelle as he sprinted home from first base on Jose Reyes’ RBI double to the gap in leftcenter.
With his glove, deGrom took away a bunt hit from Cody Asche, bounding off the mound to field the ball cleanly before making an accurate throw while falling away from his target.
Then, of course, there was his pitching. With a fastball that hummed in the mid-90s, and an arsenal of breaking pitches that he commanded at will, deGrom suffocated the Phillies and pitched the Mets to a series victory to begin the season’s second half.
Opposing pitcher Zach Elfin singled in the third inning to become the Phillies’ first baserunner of the game. They didn’t have another until Ryan Howard’s leadoff walk in the eighth, though he’d be wiped out on a double play.
Slugger Yoenis Cespedes played for the first time since July 8. Starting in leftfield in his return from a strained right quad, he went 0-for-3 with a walk, though the Mets easily picked up the slack.
Curtis Granderson hit his 16th homer of the year, a mammoth blast that landed in the bullpen in rightcenter. Asdrubal Cabrera swatted a two-run homer, his 13th of the season. And Juan Lagares, starting his third straight game against a righthanded pitcher, tripled home a run.
Reyes also doubled home deGrom, who had been hitless in his last 18 at-bats until his two-out single in the fifth.
..... - Newsday