DeGrom strikes out 9 in row, 14 in all, and Mets rally to win
DENVER » New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom struck out nine straight batters against Colorado on Saturday, falling one shy of matching Tom Seaver’s major league record, and finished with 14 strikeouts in a 4-3 win over the Rockies in a doubleheader opener.
Coming off a 14-strikeout performance in a 3-0 loss to Miami, deGrom became just the ninth pitcher to strike out as many as nine in a row.
The streak ended in the fifth inning, when the Rockies took a 3-1 lead with three unearned runs, but the Mets rallied to win a series opener delayed a day by snow when pinch-hitter Jonathan Villar hit a tying double off Daniel Bard (0-1) in the seventh inning and Dominic Smith had a sacrifice fly.
DeGrom (1-0) allowed three unearned runs and three hits in six innings and walked one, lowering his ERA to 0.45.
He started the streak with a called third strike against Josh Fuentes for the first out of the second inning, then got Sam Hillard and Dom Nunez swinging.
He fanned Chi Chi González, Raimel Tapia and Ryan McMahon in the third, and Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon and C.J. Cron in the fourth.
Fuentes grounded an 0-1 pitch leading off the fifth and reached on a throwing error by second baseman Jeff McNeil, ending the streak.
With nine strikeouts in a row, deGrom matched the New York Giants’ Mickey Welc (1884), San Diego’s Jake Peavy (2007), the Marlins’ Ricky Nolasco (2009), the Dodgers’ Aaron Harang (2012), Detroit’s Doug Fister (2012), Washington’s Max Scherzer (2015) and Detroit’s Tyler Alexander (202).
Twins-Angels postponed due to COVID-19 woes
ANAHEIM » The Twins’ game against the Angels was been postponed due to Minnesota’s COVID-19 problems.
Major League Baseball didn’t
immediately announce when the game will be made up, or what will happen with the Twins’ series finale at Angel Stadium on Sunday.
Saturday’s game was “postponed to allow for continued testing and contact tracing involving members of the Twins organization,” the league said in a statement.
RAYS 6, YANKEES 3 » Manuel Margot hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, Tyler Glasnow overcame cramps and poor control to pitch five innings of one-run ball and Tampa Bay dropped New York to an ALworst 5-9 record.
CUBS 13, BRAVES 4» Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras each homered twice on an afternoon when Atlanta returned Sean Kazmar Jr. to the major leagues for the first time in 13 years.
Atlanta selected the contract of Kazmar, a 36-year-old infielder, from its alternate training site before the game. Kazmar had not played in the major leagues since Sept. 23, 2008, with the Padres. The gap was the greatest since that of right-hander Ralph Winegarner, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Winegarner played on June 23, 1936, for the Cleveland Indians and did not return to the majors until
July 7, 1949 — a span of 13 years and 14 days.
NATIONALS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2 » Yan Gomes homered off Luke Weaver (1-1), drove in two runs and became the first major league catcher to throw out Tim Locastro on a steal attempt after 29 consecutive swipes to start his career, and Washington strung together consecutive wins for the first time this season.
ROYALS 5, BLUE JAYS 1 »Steven Matz (3-0) held Kansas City without a hit into the sixth inning, and Jonathan Davis and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered off Mike Minor (1-1) in the seven-inning doubleheader opener.
Matz allowed only a pair of walks before Nicky Lopez’s blooper to left with one out in the sixth.
RED SOX 7, WHITE SOX 4 » Wearing its new blue-and-yellow uniforms, Boston beat Chicago when Marwin Gonzalez homered to key a fourrun rally in the eighth inning.
ATHLETICS 7, TIGERS » Matt Olson, Aramís García and Mark Canha each homered and Oakland shut out Detroit for a second straight game.
Former Phillie Cole Irvin (1-2) struck out six, didn’t walk a batter and allowed four hits over six innings to earn his first victory since joining the A’s.