Gut Reaction: Mets 4, Padres 0 (7/25/19)

Jacob deGrom continued his daylight mastery, with seven shutout innings Thursday afternoon, pitching the Mets to a 4-0 victory over the Padres and a win in the rubber game of the series. The Mets are now 7-5 since the All-Star break.

The Mets scored four runs in the first inning, aided by a couple of plays that were ruled hits but were not shining moments for the Padres defensively. Gary Cohen said the four-run outburst was the first time in deGrom’s 160 starts that the Mets scored four runs in the first inning for him.

And deGrom did not squander the early lead. He gave up a hit in the top of the first or else we might have talked about him having no-hit stuff today. He was untouchable through five innings but left the mound after that frame walking somewhat gingerly. He went to the clubhouse between innings but returned to the mound for the sixth.

The Padres put two runners on in the sixth inning and another in the seventh but were unable to dent the scoreboard against deGrom, who finished with four hits and a walk allowed in his seven innings, to go along with nine strikeouts. For his career, deGrom has a 1.87 ERA in 52 games and 333 IP in day games. For the season, he now has a 2.86 ERA, the first time it’s dipped below 3.00 since April.

The game was not without drama, however. Edwin Diaz came on in the ninth inning and the first batter up hit a shot back to the box that caught him flush on the foot, causing him to leave the game. Luis Avilan came on to get the final three outs of the game. While Avilan was pitching, Jeurys Familia was warming in the pen. Absolutely no one wanted to see him enter the game and Avilan’s strong outing kept him in the bullpen to be used in a lower leverage situation down the road.