For about five minutes on Wednesday, the path to victory for Jacob deGrom was clear. deGrom was already in the dugout, his work done for the day, when the Mets finally gave him enough support to put him in line for a victory.
Then the old storylines began unraveling again. A Christian Vázquez solo homer off Seth Lugo wiped away deGrom’s lead before a three-run rally off Justin Wilson put the Mets behind for good in a 6-5 loss to the Red Sox at Citi Field.
Featuring some of the hardest pitches of his life — he hit a career-high 101.1 mph multiple times in the first inning, good for the fastest pitches by a big league starter since 2017 — deGrom fell two innings shy of setting a franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings. His streak snapped at 31 when Rafael Devers and Mitch Moreland hit back-to-back doubles in the fourth inning, and Moreland later scored on a wild pitch. (R.A. Dickey holds the all-time Mets mark with 32 2/3 straight scoreless innings during his Cy Young season in 2012.)
Still, deGrom left with a chance to pick up his first win of the season thanks to Brandon Nimmo, who homered in the fifth, and Andrés Giménez, who collected his first career RBI with a go-ahead run-scoring triple in the sixth. But Vázquez homered off Lugo in the top of the seventh to knot the score again, sticking deGrom with a no-decision.
The Sox rallied for three runs in the eighth against Wilson, who was pitching for the fourth time in six games. Leadoff man Kevin Pillar hit a bloop to left field that J.D. Davis could not corral before Wilson walked Xander Bogaerts (unintentionally) and J.D. Martinez (intentionally). Mitch Moreland followed with an RBI dribbler down the third-base line, and Vázquez added a two-run single.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].