NEW YORK _ Jacob deGrom threw four dominant innings against the Braves on Wednesday night. And then deGrom did not come out for the fifth. Paul Sewald did.
Citi Field held its breath.
The Mets eventually announced that deGrom has a hyperextended right elbow. The severity of the injury was not immediately known.
DeGrom struck out six in four scoreless innings in the Mets' 7-0 loss to the Braves. The Mets (17-11) fell out of first place in the NL East. They now trail the Braves (18-11) by a half-game. But of far more importance is the fate of deGrom, their co-ace along with Noah Syndergaard.
DeGrom allowed two hits _ both singles _ and did not walk a batter. He threw 46 pitches, 36 of them for strikes. He is 3-0 with a 1.87 ERA.
If deGrom has to go on the disabled list, that could open a door for Matt Harvey to return to the Mets' rotation.
The Mets and Braves were scoreless when deGrom departed. Sewald (0-2), who has been good, threw a scoreless fifth, but allowed the game's first run in the sixth. Ender Inciarte doubled to lead off the inning and scored on Freddie Freeman's two-out single.
Braves lefty Sean Newcomb, who threw seven shutout innings, doubled off Sewald with two outs in the seventh. Inciarte followed with a two-run homer to right-center to give Atlanta a 3-0 advantage.
The Braves poured it on with four in the eighth against Robert Gsellman. Nick Markakis had an RBI double, Johan Camargo hit a two-run homer and Ryan Flaherty followed with a solo shot to make it 7-0.
Newcomb (2-1) allowed two hits, walked one and struck out eight.
The Mets are 6-10 since an 11-1 start to the season.
