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Reinforced by his bid for NL's honor, Jacob deGrom broke a quality record set half a century ago by Bob Gibson.
WASHINGTON (AP) – No pitcher has ever set up a comparable season to Jacob deGrom in 2018 for the New York Mets.
The 23 consecutive quality starts are a record. So the 28 starting assignments in a row allow three races or less. The 1.77 ERA is not bad either.
And he could end up with the fewest wins for a starting pitcher who also wins a Cy Young Award. Following Bob Gibson's bid half a century ago, deGrom broke the quality record and allowed Mets to beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 on Friday night.
"He's getting better and better. He is a special ball player. He goes out every night and it's hard for him to have just nine wins or eight wins or whatever he has, "said Canadian championship hitter Bryce Harper, who scored a 0-3 against deGrom . . "He's one of the best in baseball – both leagues. You know what you are going out of him every night and tonight it was very hard.
About an hour after the end of their defeat, Harper and the Nationals were officially eliminated from the Eastern League, scoring nine games behind the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5. Washington has won the division in the past two seasons under the direction of Dusty Baker. the club has 77-77 under skipper Dave Martinez.
By throwing fast balls in the range of 97-99 mph, deGrom (9-9) removed eight balls and exceeded one. Gibson in 1968 and Chris Carpenter in 2005 each had a season of 22 quality starts. Nobody had done better. Until now.
"I want us to participate in all the basic matches that I run, so I guess this kind of achievement is achieving a goal that I have," DeGrom said. "So, I want to continue to take that step forward."
His next start will be Wednesday against a visit to Atlanta. It's certain. Neither deGrom nor manager Mickey Callaway excluded the possibility of an extra outing on a short rest on the last day of the regular season, September 30, at home against Miami.
The right-handed deGrom dropped to four earned runs in just one of his 31 starts in 2018, on April 10 against the Marlins.
Friday's game was virtually over in Round 3, which ended with a 4-1 lead over the Mets against Joe Ross (0-1).
DeGrom is engaged in a tight race for the honors of Cy Young – and perhaps even the MVP of the league – with the ace Max Scherzer (17-7 with 2.57 ERA and 290 outs). Scherzer has won the last two Cy Young Awards in NL, plus one in the AL when he played for the Detroit Tigers.
In the Mets' 5-4 win in 12 innings on Thursday, Scherzer allowed three runs in seven innings and pulled out 13.
Last Friday, DeGrom was distinguished with an average of 1.78 ERA, 251 K and 45 steps, and ranked # 1 in various other categories.
DeGrom looked good from the start, beating Victor Robles with a fast 98 mph, and then pushing Harper through a 99mph bid to finish the first run. Harper missed a 93-mph slider to score again in the fourth quarter.
"He's just able to do things that others are not," teammate Jay Bruce said of deGrom. "He came out and it was pretty automatic. He'll either give up zero or one, pretty much every time he'll come out.
ROOM OF TRAINERS
Mets: Mesoraco has not played since he left the match on September 3 because of a curved disc in the back. He was 3 for 3 with a walk.
National Championships: OF Adam Eaton was excluded from the starting lineup for the fourth time in five games due to a left knee injury.
FOLLOWING
RHP Corey Oswalt (3-2, 6.31 ERA) will leave for the Mets on Saturday against RHP Austin Voth (0-1, 11.81), who will take Tanner Roark's place in the rotation. Roark's wife recently gave birth.
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