METS SOCK SOX!
Noah dominates, Amazin’s homer four times off best team in baseball
Best team in baseball? Apparently, it doesn't matter who the Mets are playing right now; as long as Jacob deGrom is not on the mound, they are going to score some runs. The Mets teed off on William Cuevas, who was making his first major league start, and poured on eight runs on nine hits in an 8-0 win at Fenway Park Friday night.
Though the Yankees have essentially resigned themselves to the fact that they won't be catching Boston in the AL East, their crosstown rivals still did deliver a blow to the mighty Red Sox' confidence heading into this important final stretch of the season.
Noah Syndergaard showed no signs of being bothered by being hit in the ribs with a comebacker in his previous start, going seven dominant innings against Boston's potent lineup, allowing just three hits and striking out six. The top four hitters for the Red Sox went 1-for-11 off Syndergaard, which includes Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, who are both batting over .330.
"That was just a fun ballgame on all fronts," said Syndergaard, who picked up his team-leading 12th win of the season. "The offense really came alive. The defense made some great plays behind me."
The big right-hander, who often struggles with holding runners on, did allow three stolen bases, but on Friday he did not let it get in his head. He also picked off Ian Kinsler once, although the Red Sox second baseman swiped two bags off the Syndergaard/Tomas Nido battery.
“He's got great stuff,” Martinez said. “He throws hard. He's not just a chucker. He knows where the ball is going. He puts the ball where he wants it.” There was plenty of run support to go around for Syndergaard, who didn't need much of it on this night. The Mets homered four times and, to counter Boston, the first four hitters in their lineup went 7-for-18 with six RBI, four of them coming off the bat of Jay Bruce.
Amed Rosario and Jeff McNeil both homered, suddenly becoming a one-two punch that the Mets hope they can count on well into the future.
Since the disappointment for deGrom on Tuesday when he allowed two runs to the Marlins and took a loss, the Mets have scored 30 runs in four games, all victories. DeGrom takes the mound Sunday at Fenway against Chris Sale, in what will be a marquee matchup to watch. The Mets ace did get some help from elsewhere on Friday in his bid for the Cy Young: Max Scherzer gave up six runs against the Braves, inflating his ERA to 2.53.