NEW YORK _ Jacob deGrom's brilliance is on display every fifth day, but Friday put it into perspective as much as a single performance possibly could. Get ready, because you might need a deep breath or two to read through the list of accomplishments from his latest outing.
According to Elias, deGrom is now the only pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) to strike out at least 13 batters and hit a home run twice in a season. He did it on April 3 against Miami, too.
DeGrom on Friday struck out eight consecutive batters at one point, matching his career high. He's the first pitcher to strike out eight in a row twice in a career since Nolan Ryan did so in 1972 and 1973.
The right-hander, with his first six strikeouts, reached 200 for the season for the fourth time in five years. He's the fourth Mets pitcher to have four such seasons, joining Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and David Cone.
Unfortunately, the Mets couldn't come through for him. They played long after deGrom departed, and in the 14th inning, Billy Hamilton singled in the go-ahead run off Jeurys Familia. The Mets lost 2-1 in a game that lasted 4 hours, 37 minutes, and it snapped a five-game winning streak.
New York's pitching was spectacular, though. DeGrom, Seth Lugo, Edwin Diaz, Luis Avilan, Brad Brach, Paul Sewald and Familia combined to tie an MLB record with 26 strikeouts.
The Mets had chances.
Sean Newcomb hit Joe Panik to begin the bottom of the 11th. Panik advanced to second on one wild pitch, then to third on another _ both in the same at-bat _ to set up the winning run. But the Mets could not get him across. An inning before that, Amed Rosario struck out swinging with the bases loaded.
There was no magic tonight. Though it seemed like there might be when, in the 14th, ex-Met Adeiny Hechavarria looked to have an RBI triple ... until the ball got lodged in the wall and the umpires, after a review, only allowed runners to advance two bases.
DeGrom, who went seven full, notched his eighth double-digit strikeout game of the season. At one point, he had earned 10 straight outs via the strikeout. But in the top of the sixth, the Braves scratched one across when Freddie Freeman singled.
Apparently, deGrom figured he could take care of that, too.
He stepped up in the bottom half and took Mike Foltynewicz deep for a game-tying, opposite-field homer. Of course, the Citi Field crowd went nuts. So did the rest of the Mets _ most notably the injured Robinson Cano, who stepped outside the dugout, pranced around, then high-fived Todd Frazier.
DeGrom, who had a 1.00 ERA in the second half before this start, lowered his overall ERA to 2.56. He is making quite the run at another Cy Young.
When deGrom exited, Lugo pitched two clean innings to keep the game tied until the bottom of the ninth. He began another good bullpen performance from a unit that ranked sixth in baseball in ERA entering the game.
In the 10th, Diaz got the ball. He plunked the first batter he saw, drawing scattered boos. But he eventually stepped up big with a runner on third, striking out Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies to end the frame.
Avilan and Brach combined to complete the 11th. Sewald pitched the 12th. Wilson got through the 13th before the Braves scored the next inning.
On this run, anything has seemed possible for the Mets. Friday proved they are still mortal.
