NEW YORK _ It's hard not to see the physical similarities between Robert Gsellman and Jacob deGrom. Sure, Gsellman is slightly wider and his entire left arm is inked right down to the wrist. But they're both 6-4 and imposing, sporting a poof of hair that blooms from underneath a baseball cap incapable of containing it.
Most importantly, Saturday night Gsellman was able to mimic his doppelganger in the only way that matters to the Mets: He stared down an intimidating Nationals lineup and came out the other side.
Gsellman played the role of Bizarro deGrom well in the Mets' 3-1 win. He didn't overwhelm the Nationals, as deGrom has done in the past, but manufactured outs nonetheless. He danced into trouble and glided out of it. Eleven batters reached base in his six innings, but only one crossed the plate.
If you squinted, Gsellman wasn't just one of the replacement pitchers meant to tide the Mets over as their injured arms recover, he was a bona fide starter in his own right. Thanks to the effort, the Mets are now only a game out of the second wild-card spot as the Cardinals lost to the Reds. Not bad considering Matt Harvey is done for the year, and deGrom and Steven Matz are both hurt.
The Nationals got on board first, establishing a precedent for Gsellman's stomach-churning performance. In the first, he allowed back-to-back one-out singles by Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy, and walked Bryce Harper to load the bases. Anthony Rendon got Werth home on a sacrifice fly, but then Gsellman got Wilson Ramos to pop out to the catcher to end the inning.
The Mets would repay the favor _ with interest _ in the third when Jose Reyes walked and Asdrubal Cabrera doubled down the leftfield line. Next came the no-brainer: Tanner Roark intentionally walked Yoenis Cespedes to load the bases to bring up Curtis Granderson, who came into the game hitting .116 with runners in scoring position, and .048 in the same situation with two outs. Granderson, though, singled on a first-pitch curveball to score two and give the Mets a 2-1 lead.
But things just weren't going to be that easy. Leading off the fourth, Ramos reached on a throwing error by Reyes and Ryan Zimmerman singled. With one out, Roark bunted back to Gsellman, who went to third to get the lead runner. Trea Truner also hit into a fielder's choice to get Gsellman off unscathed. In the sixth, Rendon doubled and Ramos walked, but again, Gsellman skirted trouble thanks to a pair of groundouts and a strikeout.
The Mets tacked on one more in the sixth on James Loney's RBI double and they held on to the two-run lead thanks to a snazzy defensive display in the seventh. With one out and one on, Murphy smacked a quick-sinking liner to center and Michael Conforto showed off some nifty range by laying out and catching the ball inches from the ground.
Gsellman allowed six hits over six innings, with three walks and four strikeouts. He improves to 2-1.
Somewhat the prophet, manager Terry Collins spoke highly of him and fellow "replacement" Seth Lugo before the game. Without them, he said, the team wouldn't have much of a chance.
"Those young guys have stepped up," he said. "Their stuff is good, as we've always known. The stuff can play but you've got to be able to command it a little bit and that's what they've done, they've been commanded their pitches ... Without them pitching well, we would be in tough shape."
Gsellman might not be deGrom, but Saturday he was exactly what the Mets needed.
