Mets snap losing streak behind Jacob deGrom's 10 strikeouts as lineup wakes up
ATLANTA — Like snowstorms in the South and 50-degree nights in a New York City summer, Jacob deGrom receiving run support is a rarity; when it happens, it’s startling.
The Mets ace collected his first win of the season on the heels of his first 10-strikeout game of 2020 in the team’s 7-2 win against the Braves on Monday night. DeGrom hurled a season-high 103 pitches across six innings and gave up two earned runs and one walk to supplement his double-digit whiffs.
While the right-hander’s outing was nothing new to Mets fans, the team’s offensive production on Monday was a sight for sore eyes. The lineup woke up after a layoff that lacked situational hitting — and all the Mets needed was Yoenis Cespedes to opt out of the season — as the team snapped a five-game losing streak.
A new, but familiar looking lineup that originally featured Jeff McNeil in left field (he was scratched before the first pitch due to lower back tightness) and Dominic Smith taking over for McNeil in left field, with JD Davis in the designated-hitter spot and Andres Gimenez starting at third base, underscored the options manager Luis Rojas has when playing around with his batting order.
The Mets broke out for nine hits and improved to 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position on Monday. All of their runs were scored during the fifth inning or earlier, when deGrom was still on the mound, and the team was glad it could finally give their back-to-back Cy Young winner some breathing room.
New York improved to a 30-37 record in games deGrom takes the hill.
DeGrom gave up a home run to former batterymate Travis d’Arnaud in the fifth inning, which put Atlanta on the board. Before d’Arnaud, the most recent homer deGrom had given up also came against a former teammate in Wilmer Flores on Sept. 9, 2019.
———
©2020 New York Daily News
Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
