PHILADELPHIA — The hardest-throwing starting pitcher in baseball was finally unleashed — four days later than planned — and he came out shoving. But the one feat that has always eluded him, once again disappeared from Jacob deGrom’s night: a win.
DeGrom pitched six scoreless innings in the Mets’ 5-3 loss to the Phillies on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. He collected seven strikeouts and gave up just three hits, and he didn’t even use his entire arsenal to make the Phillies look silly at the plate. With two runs of support, one provided by his own RBI single in the fourth inning, he appeared primed for an Opening Day win.
Then two curious events happened: Luis Rojas took deGrom out of the game at 77 pitches when the ace had a limit of 100, followed by a classic Mets bullpen meltdown.
The Mets’ two newest relievers, Trevor May and Aaron Loup, allowed the Phillies to mount a comeback following their turbulent debuts in the eighth inning. May loaded the bases for Loup by giving up two singles and a walk, and Loup hit Bryce Harper to walk in a run. Then, on an Alec Bohn grounder to third, Luis Guillorme fired a somewhat errant throw home that James McCann couldn’t handle, which allowed two more runs to score.
Didi Gregorius notched a sac fly to right field to complete the Phillies’ five-run comeback.
DeGrom’s final two innings in the fifth and sixth were perfect with three strikeouts. It seemed like an odd time to take the right-hander out of the game, but the Mets were likely being cautious with their ace, who hadn’t pitched since the team’s final spring training game last Monday. In the end, the Mets loss spoiled his eventful Opening night.
A day after Angels’ two-way star Shohei Ohtani rocked the baseball world with his pitching and batting performance, deGrom brought the same game to the East Coast. DeGrom, without the universal DH in play this season, wowed the crowd (which included pockets of Mets fans) with his 2-for-3 night with an RBI single.
DeGrom used just two pitches — his fastball and slider — to navigate through the Phillies’ lineup. His first pitch of the night, a 99 mph heater, was his comfort zone on Monday. DeGrom threw 24 consecutive fastballs into the second inning, before going to his slider on his 25th pitch of the night. Keeping with tradition, deGrom has never allowed a run on Opening Day through 17 scoreless innings.
