NEW YORK — New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom On Saturday night, he couldn’t help but wonder about his future. Free-agency is looming, and the San Diego Padres After winning Game 1 in the NL wild-card series NL, deGrom entered Game 2 knowing that if he doesn’t perform well, it might be his last pitch at Citi Field.
“That thought went into me, but the hope wasn’t that we would win another baseball game and then keep playing,” deGrom said.
In six innings, he allowed five hits and two runs while striking out eight batters. The Mets won 7-3 with deGrom pitching six innings. DeGrom will have at least one day to wear a Mets uniform on Sunday night, when the Mets take on the Padres.
DeGrom was the first to set the tone, throwing 12 pitches at over 99 mph and seven at over 100 mph. He struck out slugger, and retired the top Padres lineup. Juan Soto Manny Machado swinging. DeGrom relied mainly on his fastball, which reached 100 mph on 19 out of 99 pitches. He also used his slider. He also used his curveball twice and his changeup six times. Sixty-eight of his pitches were strikes.
Two runs were scored for the Padres by deGrom. The first came on a homerun from Trent GrishamHis second consecutive night of sleepless nights.
“I gotta tip mine to Trent, that Homer, I felt that that was a great pitch and he just got it,” deGrom stated.
After deGrom walked Grisham in the fifth inning, the second ran came before Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar A game-tying RBI single was hit down the right field line. In the six-pitch contest, DeGrom threw five sliders consecutively.
DeGrom stated on the Profar at bat, “That’s my favorite fastball,” “Felt like it was something I could do, but I threw too many at him, and he kept one.”
DeGrom felt that he had found his groove in the last inning of his innings on the mound.
“Slider was good and fastball. [Padres first baseman Brandon] Drury. I threw one and put it away where I wanted,” deGrom explained. “They were a bit too tall and a little off the mark early on. It was the right adjustment that I made and in the sixth inning I felt my best.
Buck Showalter, Mets manager, made an unusual decision to bring in closer after deGrom had left the game. Edwin Diaz The seventh inning. Showalter was inspired by Grisham’s two homers against New York during the first two games. He wanted to challenge Showalter with the Padres’ toughest reliever. The result was a 3-2 win.
Grisham was grounded before Padres catcher against Diaz Austin Nola Singled up the middle. Diaz got Profar and Soto grounded out to end the seventh.
Diaz was back for the eighth inning. After getting Machado grounded out, Diaz walked Josh Bell And struck out Jake Cronenworth. Showalter came then to the mound to relieve Diaz Adam OttavinoDrury was struck out to end the inning.
Showalter claimed that he didn’t intend for Diaz to pitch three innings, and the game would be over.
Diaz stated, “Wherever they were in the batting orders, we had trouble dealing with Grisham.” “I didn’t intend on pitching a third innings with him. There were many things that would have made the difference. He could have two eight-pitch innings. I would consider it.
Diaz wanted to stay to finish Drury’s game, but Showalter said that he needed him available for Game 3 on Saturday.
“I felt great. “I thought I could get Drury out. But he said that he needed me tomorrow, and that this was enough for now,” Diaz stated. “So, I said let’s win this game tomorrow.”