Degrom sets another record
Pitcher throws his 23rd consecutive quality start in win
Jacob degrom turned in a record 23rd consecutive quality start, lowered his ERA to 1.77 and boosted his record to .500 as he bids to earn the NL Cy Young Award, allowing one run in seven innings to help the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 Friday night.
Throwing fastballs in the 97-99 mph range, degrom (9-9) struck out eight and walked one while allowing just one run and three hits, all singles. Bob Gibson (in 1968) and Chris Carpenter (2005) each had single-season runs of 22 quality starts, the previous major league mark.
The right-handed degrom has given up as many as four earned runs in only one of his 31 starts in 2018, back on April 10 against Miami. He’s now up to 28 in a row allowing three runs or fewer, the longest single-season streak in major league history.
So this game was pretty much wrapped up by the third inning, which ended with the Mets ahead 4-1. Jay Bruce had two runscoring hits, and Devin Mesoraco and Dominic Smith also delivered RBIS, all off Joe Ross (0-1).
Robert Gsellman worked around Anthony Rendon’s RBI single in the ninth for his 12th save.
Washington began the day in danger of being officially eliminated from contention in the NL East, which it won the past two seasons under thenmanager Dusty Baker. That danger became reality with the loss by the Nationals plus a victory by the Braves over Philadelphia.
Degrom is locked in what’s considered a tight race for Cy Young honors — and perhaps league MVP consideration, too — with Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who is 17-7 with a 2.57 ERA and 290 strikeouts. Scherzer has won the past two Cy Young Awards in the NL, plus one in the AL when he played for the Detroit Tigers.
In the Mets’ 5-4 victory in 12 innings Thursday, Scherzer gave up three runs in seven innings and struck out 13.
Entering Friday, degrom boasted a majorsleading 1.78 ERA, 251 Ks and 45 walks, and ranked No. 1 in various other categories.