NEW YORK _ Jacob deGrom experienced a full range of emotions on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
The pitcher with baseball's best ERA and worst luck received two full runs of support before he even took the mound. But that lead soon disappeared thanks in part to a costly error by a rookie defender.
The frustrated ace slammed his fist into his glove and you had to wonder if that was a season's worth of frustration coming out in one play.
The Mets nearly lost the lead again but an offensive explosion against Yankees' reliever A.J. Cole gave deGrom an appropriate cushion. The Yankees might be the better of New York's two teams but in the battle of the aces it was deGrom (7-7) who proved to be the best in the city in the Mets' 8-5 Subway Series win.
In his 16th straight quality start, deGrom allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits against the Yankees, walking two and striking out 12 over 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander has now struck out 10 or more seven times this season and 28 times in his career. He hasn't allowed more than three runs since April 10 and the four he allowed to Miami still stands as a season-high.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh and deGrom at 114 pitches, he was removed after an extra-long mound conversation in favor of lefty Jerry Blevins, who came on to face the left-handed hitting Brett Gardner, who lined out.
The Mets helped deGrom out early, scoring twice in the first inning. Amed Rosario led off the game by taking Yankees ace Luis Severino (15-6) deep for his fifth home run of the of the season and Brandon Nimmo followed with a double. Two batters later, Jeff McNeil sent him home with a single up the center.
After the Yankees tied the game at 2 in third, Jose Bautista slugged a two-run homer that put them ahead for good. DeGrom allowed one more run in the fifth but former Yankee Todd Frazier homered off A.J. Cole to lead off the sixth and Nimmo and Michael Conforto went back-to-back off him in the seventh.
It's tough to understand what the Mets' objective is the rest of the way, but every five days the goal is simple: Get the ace the win.
Seth Lugo gave up a two-run moonshot to AL Rookie of the Year candidate Miguel Andujar in the eighth inning that cut the Mets' lead to two. But a botched double-play by the Yankees allowed a run to score in the top of the ninth and Robert Gsellman converted his seventh save, thwarting the Yankees' comeback attempt.
It almost fell apart for deGrom in the third inning. With two on and none out, Giancarlo Stanton chopped a double-play ball to Frazier at third but McNeil was unable to turn it at second, instead a hard slide by Gardner forced an even harder throw and the ball sailed well over Wilmer Flores' head at first base and into the camera well next to the Yankees' dugout.
Austin Romine scored on the error and Stanton was safe at second, putting him in position to score on a single by Aaron Hicks.
It was then when ESPN cameras caught deGrom's outburst.
Severino has allowed 30 earned runs over his last seven starts. Meanwhile, deGrom has allowed only 32 the entire season.
