Mets waste another gem by degrom
14 strikeouts over eight innings not enough as Marlins blank N.Y.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant Jacob degrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Miami Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 Saturday.
Degrom matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, Rogers fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall.
The 23-year-old Rogers (1-1) outpitched degrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against him in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second.
A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight in one stretch.
Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swingand-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead.
Dylan Floro followed with a perfect seventh, Richard Bleier was helped by shortstop Miguel Rojas’ diving catch to rob pinch-hitter Kevin Pillar during a 1-2-3 eighth, and Yimi Garcia completed the three-hitter for his first save, spelling struggling closer Anthony Bass.
Degrom (0-1) looked unhittable early — until Chisholm barreled a 100.4 mph, 0-2 fastball thrown above the strike zone in the second inning. The left-handed hitter’s drive reached the second deck in right field and was estimated at 402 feet.
“He threw me a fastball up and I just reacted to it,” said Chisholm, who called degrom the best pitcher in baseball. “Got my hands above the ball, and yeah, it was a homer.”
It was the first 0-2 homer degrom has allowed in the majors.
“He sold out for it,” degrom said. “Probably should have done a better job recognizing he was going to try to get to that fastball.“
That was all Miami could muster against degrom. The right-hander reached 14 strikeouts for the fourth time — including three times against the Marlins. He allowed a run, five hits, walked none and threw 76 of his 95 pitches for strikes.
Plagued throughout his career by insufficient run support, degrom was tagged with another disappointing loss. He even accounted for one of New York’s three hits.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been through this before,” center fielder Brandon Nimmo said. “It’s never easy.”
New York closer Edwin Diaz relieved degrom and struggled. Starling Marte hit a leadoff double and scored the next at-bat on a single by Jesus Aguilar. Rojas added an RBI single before Diaz was pulled and booed off the mound.
Mets fans also jeered Conforto, who struck out three times to extend a slump to start what could be his final season in
New York. The right fielder is set to become a free agent in the fall.