Forget Rookie of the Year honors. Jacob deGrom might be the Mets’ MVP at this point.
The rookie right-hander continued his masterful first season in the big leagues, taking a perfect game into the fifth inning, and a no-hitter into the seventh as he won his fifth straight start (becoming the first Mets rookie to do so since Dillon Gee in 2011) in a 4-2 victory over the Giants on Saturday night in front of 33,687 at Citi Field.
“I’ll start with the poise thing, because we all got to start to understand this kid has a little something special, and poise is part of it,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “We talked about his competitiveness, we’ve talked about the fact he’s got a feel for the game.
“Our kid’s really impressive.”
DeGrom (6-5) didn’t allow a hit until Pablo Sandoval’s opposite-field double with two outs in the seventh. All the while, recently acquired Giants veteran Jake Peavy was perfect — until the dormant Mets (53-57) lineup erupted in the bottom half of the seventh.
“Knowing he had [a no-hitter] and I had one — I knew it in the fifth inning — it was kind of a mental battle,” said deGrom, who allowed four hits, two earned runs and struck out seven over 7 ¹/₃ .
After producing two hits and one run over the first 15 innings of the series, the lifeless Mets bats finally woke up in the seventh, plating four runs on three hits against Peavy, who lost his 11th straight decision.
Daniel Murphy snapped Peavy’s perfect game, lining a double with one out in the seventh that Mike Morse misplayed in left field. Morse took a step in and instead of going back, and didn’t have time to recover.
Soon, the Mets had the lead.
David Wright followed with a single to left, another catchable ball Morse was unable to corral, Lucas Duda was hit by a pitch and Travis d’Arnaud lined a sacrifice fly to right. Juan Lagares added a run-scoring single and Wilmer Flores — given a rare start at shortstop — laced a two-run double down the left-field line.
“That’s how you’re gonna win, the number of add-on runs you can get in a game make a huge difference,” Collins said.
But the story, yet again, was deGrom, the skinny, shaggy-hared righty who has emerged out of the shadows of the other elite Mets pitching prospects, pitching his way into contention for National League Rookie of the Year honors. Collins said the last few years, minor league managers in the Mets system have raved to him about deGrom, though other prospects, such as Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero — both still in the minor leagues at Triple-A Las Vegas — were more highly touted.
“As a guy you guys know who flew under the radar, he’s certainly being talked about now,” Collins said. “I wanted to come in and show I could pitch in the big leagues and be a starter there,” deGrom said. “I wouldn’t say I was overlooked. I feel like they knew about me, they gave me an opportunity and I’m thankful for that.”
DeGrom, working ahead of virtually every hitter, using both sides of the plate masterfully and mixing up his pitches like a veteran, continued to dazzle, lowering his ERA to 2.77, the lowest by half a run in the starting rotation.
After giving up that two-out double to Sandoval in the seventh, deGrom didn’t lose focus. He retired Morse on a groundout and the Mets responded with four runs in the seventh.
DeGrom allowed a two-run single to pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa in the eighth, and was lifted, making way for ace setup man Jeurys Familia, who retired the only two batters he faced. Jenrry Mejia worked the ninth for his eighth straight save and 16th in 18 chances, as deGrom moved above .500 for the first time in his brilliant, albeit brief, Mets career.
“I had the best seat in the house,” d’Arnaud said. “He had command of all his pitches. He had everything going. I feel like he’s always like that, he’s got this demeanor about him. He’s a bulldog. He keeps attacking and keeps fighting.”