Remembering Mets History (2015) Jacob deGrom Strikes Out Ten Allowing Two Hits in a Combined Shut Out

Wednesday August 12th, 2015: Terry Collins first place Mets (61-52) were riding high nine games over .500 with 2.5 game lead over the second place Washington Nationals.

After a seven-game win streak that put them in first place, New York had dropped a pair to the Rays in Tampa. On the first game of this homestand, they won the opener with the Rockies behind Matt Harvey (eight innings) & Eric O'Flaherty's (one inning) 4-0 five hit combined shut out. 

Tonight, they hosted Walt Weiss' fifth place struggling Colorado Rockies (47-65) in the second game of the series.

The Mets sent Jacob deGrom to the mound against Jorge De La Rosa in front of 37,175 at Citi Field. deGrom had come off three straight no-decisions where he had given up two runs or less. He had not given up more than two runs in his last six starts.

In the top of the 1st inning with one out former Met Jose Reyes reached on an infield single to second base.

 

Jose Reyes Trivia: At this point in his career the 32-year-old Reyes had been traded to the Rockies from Toronto where he played 47 games batting .259.

 

In the top of the 2nd, deGrom fanned DJ LeMahieu then issued a walk to Michael McKenry. He ended the inning striking out Brandon Barnes for his third K. 

deGrom retired the side in order over the next two innings collecting two more strike outs in the 4th inning.

In the home 4th inning, Juan Lagares led off with a base hit to center field. After two ground outs, Lagares reached third base, then scored on Juan Uribe's double to center. 

Michael Cuddyer followed with an RBI single scoring Uribe giving the Mets a 2-0 lead for deGrom.

In the top of the 5th, DJ LeMahiue hit a ground rule double for the Rockies second & last hit of the game. Although deGrom walked Michael McHenry putting two men on, he struck out Brandon Barnes & Charlie Blackmon to end the threat.

In the top of the 6th, deGrom would walk two more batters as he matched his season high with four walks in the game. He then struck out LeMahiue with his ninth strike out to end the inning.

In the top of the 7th, deGrom had easy 1-2-3 inning, striking out pinch hitter Matt McBride to end the inning with his tenth K of the game. 

Double Digit K Games: The ten strike outs marked the fourth time on the year & the eighth time in his career deGrom had reached double figures in Ks. In his Mets career he struck out ten or more batters in a game 58 times.

Jacob would have one more double digit strike out game later in the month coming against Boston. Earlier, On May 21st, deGrom had his season high 11 strike out game in a win over the Cardinals.

DeGrom pitched seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits in seven innings, striking out ten & walking four, matching a season high. 

It was the second time on the season he pitched seven innings allowing just two hits as he earned his 11th win (11-6) of the season. His 2.02 ERA was amongst the league's best. In his next start he would allow one run to the Orioles over 7.2 innings in Baltimore lowering his ERA below two to a season best 1.98.

In the top of the 8th Tyler Clippard came on to pitch retiring the side in order. 

In the bottom of the 8th, Yoenis Cespedes added a solo HR, his first as a Mets player & sixth RBI since coming over at the trade deadline. Overall, it was his 19th blast of the season.

Citi Field Parakeet: Broadcaster Gary Cohn commented on a green parakeet that parked itself near the Mets dugout as "the rally parakeet". Its color green matched Yoenis Cespedes' green arm sleeve.

In the top of the 9th, Jeurys Familia came on to pitch. DJ LeMahieu collected his second hit of the game, the Rockies third hit overall.

After a defensive interference call, Familia ended the game striking out Michael McHenry for the 3-0 combined shutout. Familia collected his 34th save of the season.

The Mets ended the day 3.5 games up on top of the Nationals in the NL East.