Hartford Courant (Sunday)

Spring training news from Yankees, Mets camps.

- By Deesha Thosar

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jacob deGrom remembered to bring the heat when he packed for the team’s travel day.

The ace, making his Grapefruit League debut in the rain-shortened Mets’ 6-1 win over the Astros on Saturday, ended his scoreless two-inning outing with a pair of strikeouts that touched 99 and 100 mph on the radar gun. When all was done, deGrom gave up one hit and a walk with three strikeouts over 29 pitches. He stepped off the mound with a warm ovation from the large pack of Mets fans in attendance on Houston’s turf — including his own son, Jaxon Anthony deGrom, who waved at his dad as he entered the dugout.

DeGrom credited the whiffs to homing in on his fastball location with James McCann, who caught the righthande­r Saturday for the first time in a game. DeGrom switched up his pitch mix after he gave up a double to Abraham Toro on his slider. Nearly a month into camp for deGrom and McCann, the pitcher feels comfortabl­e with the battery they’ve formed.

“We were talking after that double I gave up,” deGrom said of his quick chat on the mound with McCann. “He was like, ‘Hey, nobody is on time on the fastball.’ So we stuck with that and really worked on locating it.”

Manager Luis Rojas confirmed on Saturday what fans likely already knew: deGrom will make his third straight Opening Day start on April 1 against the Nationals in Washington D.C.

Only two Mets pitchers have had a longer streak than deGrom. Tom Seaver received the nod for 10 consecutiv­e Opening Day starts, and Dwight Gooden pitched four straight. This year, deGrom will be tied with Johan Santana for thirdmost Opening Day streaks.

“Any time that you get the nod for Opening Day, it’s a huge honor,” deGrom said. “I go out there and try to have fun and compete to the best of my ability. The main thing is having fun playing this game. When you’re mentioned with guys like that, it truly is an honor.”

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