Nimmo hits walk-off bomb to power Mets
Homer backs strong start by degrom
NEW YORK — Pinch-hitter Brandon Nimmo launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning and the New York Mets got another dominant outing from All-star Jacob degrom in a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.
Amed Rosario, who had two of New York’s four hits, began the winning rally with a two-out double off Mark Leiter Jr. (0-1) — the first hit for the Mets since the fourth inning. Jose Reyes walked and Nimmo drove Leiter’s next pitch well over the wall in right-center for his first career walkoff RBIS.
It was New York’s third game-ending homer in the last six days. Jose Bautista beat Tampa Bay with a grand slam last Friday, and Wilmer Flores connected Monday in the series opener against the Phillies to help the Mets earn a four-game split.
Philadelphia dropped back into a first-place tie with Atlanta in the NL East.
In his final scheduled start before heading to the All-star Game next Tuesday in Washington, degrom scattered five hits and matched his longest outing of the season. He struck out seven and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.68.
Still, the right-hander has only five wins on the season. He’s allowed just one earned run over his past 16 innings but has consistently been hurt by a lack of run support from an anemic New York offense all year.
This time, at least, the Mets didn’t let degrom’s gem go to waste.
New York won for just the fifth time in its past 24 home games but has gone 15 consecutive series without winning one since sweeping a threegame set against Arizona from May 18-20.
Robert Gsellman (6-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the victory.
Phillies starter Vince Velasquez returned from the disabled list and allowed just two hits over six scoreless innings. The right-hander missed only one start after being hit just below the right elbow by a line drive on June 30.
Among the NL leaders in strikeouts, Velasquez fanned just three.