WASHINGTON _ If Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is feeling comfortable with his new very stable financial situation, it certainly didn't show on Thursday afternoon.
DeGrom was brilliant in the season opener, and the bullpen was pretty good, too, making sure that Robinson Cano's first inning-home run off of Max Scherzer was enough to lift the Mets to a 2-0 win.
This game was billed as a battle between two of the best pitchers in baseball. And it certainly lived up to the hype. Both Scherzer and deGrom looked as if they had hit their July stride, while the lineups they were facing seemed to have left their game somewhere in Florida.
DeGrom (1-0) threw six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing five hits and one walk hits on 93 pitches _ looking pretty much like the guy who won last year's National League Cy Young. Scherzer (0-1) might have been even better, going seven and 2/3 innings, striking out 12 and allowing two hits and three walks on 109 pitches.
But his mistake to Cano, on a 1-1 pitch in the first inning, proved to be too much for the Nationals to overcome. Cano became the 10th player in Mets history to hit a home run in his first at-bat with the team, becoming the first sine Mike Jacobs in 2005.
It wasn't just deGrom who was brilliant. The bullpen came in and performed well in a high-pressure situation.
Seth Lugo replaced deGrom and struck out the side in the seventh. Jeurys Familia didn't allow a hit in the eight. And Edwin Diaz threw a perfect ninth to get the save.
When general manager Brodie Van Wagenen drew up the offseason, it had to have looked something like this. DeGrom, the centerpiece who just signed a five-year, $137.5 million extension, turning in a dominant performance. The upgraded bullpen carrying that momentum. And a key addition in Cano getting the key hits _ he added an insurance run with an RBI single in the top of the eighth inning. Cano finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs and the homer.
Even though the line was impressive for deGrom, it wasn't always easy.
DeGrom was in a jam in the third inning, with runners on first and third with nobody out. But he struck out Trea Turner. And then got Anthony Rendon to hit a grounder to third base. Jeff McNeil flipped it to Cano for the first out at second base. From there, Cano realized that Victor Robles had strayed too far off of third base. He threw home, catching Robles in a rundown which became the final out of the inning.
A silly mistake by Robles and a heads up play by Cano helped deGrom keep his shutout.
He was in another jam in the second inning, when McNeil saved a run with a diving catch on a Ryan Zimmerman two-out line drive.
But in the end, deGrom found a way to do what he seems to always do: shut down the opposition.
This was the 30th straight start in which deGrom has allowed three runs or less (dating back to April, 16, 2018). That's the longest overall streak in major league history. DeGrom also threw his 25th consecutive quality start (dating back to May 18, 2018) which is tied for the second-longest streak in major league history with Eddie Cicotte (1916-17). Bob Gibson had 26 straight quality starts in 1967-68.
