LOS ANGELES _ Among the forces conspiring to weaken _ or attempt to weaken _ Jacob deGrom's case for the NL Cy Young Award are, it seems, his teammates. Even if they don't mean to.
DeGrom turned in another strong start on Monday, holding the Dodgers to one run in six innings in the Mets' 4-2 win. He struck out six, walked one, allowed two hits _ as many as he picked up at the plate _ and worked around two fielding errors. The Mets' only RBI while deGrom was in the game belonged to him, too, on a single to right in the fifth.
A 34-pitch sixth inning, which included Amed Rosario booting a ground ball at the end of Justin Turner's 12-pitch at-bat, robbed deGrom of a chance to go deeper. He still ended the night with a 1.68 ERA, same as he woke up with. That remains significantly better than the Phillies' Aaron Nola (2.23) and the Nationals' Max Scherzer (2.28), who struck out 11 in seven innings Monday.
Brandon Nimmo smacked a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the ninth to put the Mets ahead, but it was too late for deGrom to get the win.
Nine times in 2018, deGrom (8-8) has lasted at least six innings, allowed one run or fewer and not gotten the win. That's the highest single-season total in major-league history. His 25 consecutive starts with three runs or fewer constitute the longest such stretch since at least 1913. His 20 quality starts in a row are a Mets record.
In competing for the Cy Young, deGrom is also fighting his career norms. In his first four years in the majors _ and especially the past two seasons _ his production tailed off toward the final two months. His career ERA by month through 2017: 2.67 in June, 1.99 in July, 3.77 in August, 3.38 in September. (Those numbers also underscore how good deGrom has been even in his bad _ or slightly less good _ stretches.)
This season, deGrom has resisted the late-summer swoon: 2.36 ERA in June, 1.74 in July, 1.24 in August. Even as the season winds down, with the Mets having long known they are going nowhere, the past few weeks have featured a better-than-ever version of deGrom, chasing the personal prize of being named the league's best pitcher.
"He has been unflappable," catcher Devin Mesoraco said. "He has continually beared down on side (sessions), beared down on every start, every pitch. I haven't seen anything change.
"Everybody has their motivations. For the most part, they're team-oriented. With the way our season has gone, I think that it's safe to say you want to accomplish things individually also. Jake is certainly aware of that."
Said manager Mickey Callaway: "He's in a really good spot after the first few months he had. His confidence, his pitching, his ability to go out there and get outs are probably at an all-time high right now because of the success he's had so far this season."
Mesoraco has become a part of deGrom's campaign. Since the Mets acquired him from the Reds in May, Callaway has paired deGrom with Mesoraco _ a touted game-caller and take-charge catcher _ almost exclusively. That included starting Tomas Nido in consecutive games over the weekend in part because Callaway was unsure Mesoraco, who has been dealing with a muscular neck issue, would be able to catch consecutive games. And Callaway prioritized Mesoraco working with the right-handed ace.
That plan went well until the fifth, when Mesoraco singled and exited with what the Mets called neck and back stiffness.
"My neck has been an issue for some time," Mesoraco said before the game Monday. "I want to be back there for Jake's starts. For me going forward, that would be my main goal, to make sure I'm capable of doing whatever I can to help him out."
