Drives in 2, deGrom tosses 7 strong innings to beat K.C.
don and gave up a single to Hunter Dozier on one out in the fourth. Jorge Soler, who entered Saturday hitting .421 with 14 RBI in August, chopped a one-hopper to Alonso. The rookie tried to backhand it, but was unsuccessful as the ball jumped out of his glove. Gordon scored easily from third base as the Royals took a 1-0 lead.
But deGrom paid no mind. He retired the next six batters and worked back into a rhythm that makes the 6-4, 180-pounder largely unhittable. He lowered his ERA to 2.61 and leapfrogged Clayton Kershaw (2.63) for fourth-best ERA in the NL while doing so. deGrom has posted a 1.92 ERA (22 earned runs/103 innings) in his last 16 starts since May 22, and he’s surrendered three runs or fewer in each of those starts.
“I honestly haven’t thought about it too much,” deGrom said of winning the Cy Young again. “Of course, I’d like to be in the talks for it. But the main goal is to put this team in a position to win. We’ve been playing good baseball since the All-Star break.
“Individual things are great, but the goal is for the team to make into the World Series and win that. My goal is just to go out there and put up zeros and give these guys a chance.”
Seth Lugo slammed the door on the Royals with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his third save of the season.
GSELLMAN TO IL
When the Mets’ best options for late-inning pinch-hitters are Luis Guillorme and Aaron Altherr, it’s pretty obvious they’re playing with a subpar bench. Injuries to key starters like Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith and Robinson Cano have made the offense less potent.
However, instead of adding an extra bat to their shallow bench, the Mets are repeatedly forced to call up an extra arm for their mess of a bullpen.
Robert Gsellman hit the 10day injured list Saturday with right triceps soreness, retroactive to Aug. 12. The righthander said he first felt the pain during his last outing against the Nationals. In a corresponding move, the Mets called up right-hander Walker Lockett from Triple-A Syracuse.
“When somebody goes down, somebody else has to step up,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. “You can’t really worry about it. Hopefully Walker or somebody else will step up and get some big outs for us.”
A few days ago, Callaway was broached on the topic of having eight relievers in the bullpen and only four players on the bench. He said the Mets are loading arms in the pen in case a starter needs to be yanked early following a rough outing.