DeGRIM REAPER
Familia is kiss of death, blows another Jake gem in 9th
Jeurys Familia can’t hold lead in 9th and, just like that, Jacob deGrom’s seven scoreless innings are wasted as Mets fall to Miami, 2-1.
JACOB deGrom suddenly leads the National League in earned run average, having given up a single run in one show of dominance after another over the past five weeks. The Mets still somehow have won only half of his 10 starts this season, and if that doesn’t perfectly sum up their mostly sorry existence so far in 2018, what does?
Jeurys Familia blew a lead for deGrom for the third time already this season, and suffered his MLB-worst fourth overall, coughing up two runs in the ninth of a gut-punching 2-1 loss Wednesday night against last-place Miami at Citi Field.
So much for that four-game winning streak earlier this week seemingly righting what had been a month-plus of disjointed performances following the Mets’ 11-1 start.
“It’s tough because he’s been dominant,” Mickey Callaway lamented afterward about deGrom. “Not just good or solid. He’s been dominant. He’s not giving up any runs. We’re in a good spot to win the game every time he pitches.”
Then why don’t they win them at more than a .500 clip with one of the NL’s best pitchers on the mound?
Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland worked some of their supposed guru magic with free-agent signing Jason Vargas, who came back from three straight pinball outings to toss five scoreless innings against the gutted Marlins.
And they continue to try the same, with less success so far, with starters Steven Matz and Jacob Wheeler.
They need to similarly make sure that Familia, who actually had converted four straight opportunities since squandering three save chances over a 10-day stretch in late-April, remains on top of his game for the Mets (24-21) to have any chance to hang around the NL East race.
The margin for error with this team has been so fragile on those days deGrom and Noah Syndergaard do not pitch, the Mets can ill afford to flush this many of their stellar starts, particularly against bottomdivision opponents.
“Of course. We’re like a family here,” the aptly named Familia said. “Every time you see anybody have a game like that and we come out from the bullpen and we don’t do a good job, we feel bad as a teammate.
“Because we are like a family, but it is what it is. It’s part of the game. They know everybody is going out there trying to do the job and give 100 percent.”
DeGrom did that again – and then some — through seven innings on Wednesday night. He scattered four singles and struck out eight to lower his ERA for the year to 1.54 – and a microscopic 0.27 on the heels of five scoreless outings in his last six outings since April 21 – despite little to show for it.
“He knows this. He has to go out there and just control what he can control,” Callaway said. “If he starts worrying about things he has nothing to do with, it wouldn’t help him at all. It’s the reality of the situation. It’s not fun. I’m sure he doesn’t enjoy it. But I don’t think he’s going to let it affect his pitching, and obviously he hasn’t.”
The righty remains unbeaten personally for the season at 4-0, but he wound up Wednesday night with his sixth no-decision. That is simply unacceptable, considering how well deGrom has pitched.
“You know those guys are out there giving 100 percent and I’m comfortable with them coming in the game. It’s rare that it happens,” deGrom said. “Nobody wants to lose. Every time we go out there, the goal is to win. Any loss is tough. A loss in the ninth is tough. But whether you’re way out of it, or you lose in the ninth, it’s a loss and nobody wants to do that.”
After Seth Lugo extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings in maintaining the Mets’ 1-0 lead in the eighth – courtesy of a solo homer three innings earlier by on-base machine Brandon Nimmo (.423) – Familia typically was summoned from B the pen. ut his usually heavy sinker admittedly “was a little bit up tonight” and he quickly was tagged for four hits and two runs in the ninth. That ultimately sent the crushed Mets off to a daunting seven-game trip against first-place NL clubs Milwaukee and Atlanta reeling.
“We know we have a good team,” deGrom said. “We just need to put some together and get everybody going at the same time. There’s some guys struggling right now, but they’ll come out of it. That’s the thing about baseball. You get to play tomorrow. There’s still a lot of baseball left… and we can easily turn this thing around.”
Closing out a few more games deGrom pitches so fantastically certainly would be a good place to start.