The final game between the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks felt like it would never come to an end. After Jacob deGrom left early with an injury, manager Luis Rojas found a way to piece together the final 12 outs and get the Mets a 4-2 win. The victory was the fifth in a row and gave them their first sweep of the 2021 season.
Jacob deGrom, Mean 100mph Fastball…and Sword. ??
[Probably sword of the week] pic.twitter.com/u1bTYpHV3W— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 9, 2021
deGrom made his first start in 11 days and looked stellar by retiring the first 12 batters he faced in order. In the fifth inning, he had an uncharacteristic three walks and allowed a run. When deGrom returned to the mound for the sixth inning, he felt discomfort and removed himself from the game with right side tightness. The move was the right one as lat injuries can become dangerous and is an injury no one should try to push through. deGrom finished the day with five innings pitched, one hit allowed, three walks, and six strikeouts.
Miguel Castro took over for deGrom in the sixth and was the beginning of the Mets bullpen, making things interesting. Castro struggled with his command to start but reined himself in to survive a scoreless inning. Jacob Barnes pitched a 1-2-3 seventh but allowed a home run and double in the eighth, leaving with a 4-2 lead. Rojas turned to Edwin Diaz with the tying run on base with one out and induced a double play to keep the lead. Diaz worked around a dropped pop-up to strike out three and complete a terrific sweep.
Get The Ball Rolling
The Mets offense is not rolling on all cylinders, but it is starting to do enough to support their tremendous pitching. Francisco Lindor (sac fly), Michael Conforto (single), and Dominic Smith (single) all were responsible for driving in a run. Patrick Mazeika found another unique way to drive in a run with an RBI walk. In his three career plate appearances, Mazeika has two RBIs but is still searching for his first hit.
The big concern for the Mets is obviously deGrom, but the hope is that he is just dealing with soreness again. If deGrom tried to push through it, he could have had the same fate as Noah Syndergaard in 2017. Syndergaard pitched through a lat injury in 2017, and he ended up missing five months of the season. Hopefully, deGrom only needs extra rest again to get back to 100%.
This whole series was an example of how dangerous the Mets can become. They showed their bullpen is fully capable of picking up the slack with the starting pitching has a rare short outing. The offense is slowly coming back to life, and the defense even showed it is much improved from last season. The bullpen will get a much-needed rest before the Baltimore Orioles fly into town for a quick two-game series.