DeGrom denied again
No-decision in loss to Bosox
BOSTON — You know the drill.
Jacob deGrom pitches solid ball, but the Mets lose regardless.
It’s getting a bit old, huh, Mets fans?
DeGrom gave up three runs and five hits over seven innings with 12 strikeouts and one walk, his major-leagueleading ERA rising slightly to 1.78, in a 4-3 loss to Boston on Sunday.
“I knew I had good stuff,” deGrom said. “I made a couple mistakes that inning, just had to turn the page and go out there and try to keep us in the game. We tied it up and we were in the game the whole way.”
Red Sox star Mookie Betts left the game after hurting his left side making a throw to home.
Boston’s magic number is down to two as the Red Sox can clinch the division at Yankee Stadium for the second time in three seasons, needing only one win during a threegame series that opens Tuesday afternoon.
Andrew Benintendi hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning off Seth Lugo (3-4) after a matchup of Boston’s Chris Sale and Jacob deGrom, both Cy Young Award candidates. Brandon Workman (5-0) pitched a scoreless eighth, and Steven Wright got three outs for his first big league save.
Sale allowed one hit in three scoreless innings, lowering his AL-best ERA to 1.92 and extending his scoreless innings streak to 32, the longest in the major leagues this season. He made his second start after a pair of trips to the disabled list caused by mild left shoulder inflammation limited him to one appearance over nearly six weeks.
Boston took a 3-0 lead in the third on Betts’ sacrifice fly and Brock Holt’s two-run homer, deGrom’s only blemish of the afternoon. The Mets closed to 3-2 in the sixth on Wilmer Flores’ sacrifice fly and a double by Michael Conforto that bounced off the glove of Tzu-Wei Lin, who replaced Betts.
Sale and deGrom became the first starting pitchers to face each other with sub-2.00 ERAs and at least 100 innings since the Mets’ Dwight Gooden (1.74) and the Cardinals’ John Tudor (1.95) on Sept. 11, 1985, according to Elias.
Boston is 4-0 in games started against NL pitchers entering with ERAs among the league’s top four, also winning in starts by Washington’s Max Scherzer, Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola and Atlanta’s Mike Foltynewicz.