Chisholm homers off deGrom, says heater on ‘lighter side’
NEW YORK (AP) » Jazz Chisholm Jr. watched Jacob deGrom’s first 100 mph fastball whiz by and wasn’t impressed.
“People were saying, ‘It’s an angry 100, it gets on you,’” the Marlins’ brazen, blue-haired Bahamian said. “It didn’t really get on me like I was expecting.”
“Some people’s 100 is a little lighter,” he added. “To me, it felt like he was on the lighter side.”
Safe to say, Miami’s youngsters don’t scare easily.
Chisholm hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant deGrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 Saturday.
DeGrom (0-1) matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, the 23-year-old Rogers (11) fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall.
For a while, the difference was Chisholm’s rip in the second inning.
DeGrom looked unhittable early — until the 23-year-old Chisholm barreled a 100.4 mph, 0-2 fastball thrown above the strike zone. The left-handed hitter’s drive reached the second deck in right field for a 1-0 lead and was
estimated at 402 feet.
Chisholm took a 100 mph strike to start the atbat, then found himself swinging too quick for a 99 mph pitch. He claims he was looking for something offspeed when deGrom reached back for a third straight heater — 100 above the letters.
“He threw me a fastball up and I just reacted to it,”
said Chisholm, who called deGrom the best pitcher in baseball. “Got my hands above the ball, and yeah, it was a homer.”
It was the first 0-2 home run deGrom has allowed in the majors.
“He sold out for it,” deGrom said. “Probably should have done a better job recognizing he was going to try to get to that fastball.”
The next time Chisholm came up, deGrom struck him out with one fastball and then five straight changeups.
Coming off their first postseason
berth since 2003, the Marlins are 2-7 but with encouraging signs from a rotation featuring a 2.01 ERA in 2021.
Rogers outpitched deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against him in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second.
“Best in baseball, Jacob deGrom is,” Rogers said. “You really have to bring your best and then some. To see me and our whole team go out and compete with the
best, it just shows you how good we are.”
A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight in one stretch.
Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swing-and-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead.