It was turn back the clock day at Citi Field with outstanding performances from Jacob deGrom and Aaron Nola, who both finished in the top three of the Cy Young Award race in 2018. The two combined for 1 run in 14 innings. And it turned out to be enough for the Mets, who emerged with a 1-0 win Saturday night to tie the series 1-1.
deGrom in his last outing was perfect for 5.2 innings. He was a thin hair worse than that this time, as he had the audacity to allow two hits in 6 IP. But he struck out 10 batters and did not allow a walk. In three games since returning from the IL, deGrom has a 1.62 ERA and is 2-0.
Seth Lugo and Trevor May were the bridge to the ninth inning and they were very good, retiring six of the seven batters they faced, with three strikeouts.
We’ve gotten so spoiled with Edwin Diaz being lights out in the ninth inning. He was not this way in tonight’s game, as his slider was not as sharp as it has been recently. He walked two batters and had runners on second and third before he struck out Nick Castellanos for the final out and his 27th save of the season.
The only run scored in the first inning when Starling Marte singled, stole second and advance on a throwing error and scored when Pete Alonso dumped a single to right field. It was the 97th RBI of the season for Alonso.
In two games, the Mets and Phillies have scored a total of four runs, an indication of how good the pitching has been in this series. The rubber game on Sunday will feature Zack Wheeler and Chris Bassitt so a continuation of good pitching could be in the cards. Bassitt has a 2.19 ERA over his last nine starts while Wheeler has a 2.08 ERA in his last 15 games.
Gut Reaction: This game was a playoff-like game. The pitching matchups in the series should be what to expect In a playoff round. When deGrom is pitching I have unreasonable expectations that he won’t allow a run! He was very enjoyable to watch. There were only 7 hits in the game and only one hit mattered , Alonso’s RBI single. The Phillies are much improved. The manager change has did them well. Let’s win the series tomorrow. LGM
A series win is the goal and should be for every series as that’s a strong path to the title. You can’t win them all, but you can come right back after a loss and take the next game. I too feel that we should never lose a deGrom starts and after three starts he looks as good as ever. Not forgetting Bassitt against the Phillies for the series win, but thinking about our rotation against the Braves – Carrasco, Walker, Scherzer, deGrom. Pretty imposing!
32-9 following a loss now – best in the majors. Still haven’t lost 2 games in a row in a division series all year. (or lost a division series, fingers crossed!). 10-4 vs the Phils. You know it’s a special year when Diaz is saving a 1-0 Degrom start with the go ahead run on 2nd base in the 9th inning rather than blowing it up. For some reason I think we get to Wheeler a little bit – 3 or 4 runs perhaps. Bassitt is going to have to go deep again and limit the Phils to 1 or 2 runs. Guessing Ottavino gets the 9th tonight for the save opportunity.