The Mets spoke of belief, of hope, of perseverance. A silent Citi Field spoke the truth.
Counting on their ace to end a season-worst home skid, Jacob deGrom cruised through the majority of Thursday night’s start against the Cubs but ended with his worst line in more than three months as the Mets suffered their sixth straight home loss, 4-1, and fell five games behind Chicago for the second wild-card spot.
For the first time in 18 starts, deGrom allowed more than three earned runs, and he surrendered multiple homers for the first time since June 18, with Victor Caratini’s second shot — a tie-breaking, three-run bomb in the seventh inning — handing the Mets their second straight sweep in Queens.
DeGrom’s bid for back-to-back Cy Young Awards took a hit. The Mets’ postseason hopes suffered a bigger one.
“We still have a chance,” Pete Alonso said prior to the game. “We still have an awesome opportunity in front of us. There’s five weeks left, and that’s still a pretty decent amount of time to make up this lost ground that we gave up here at home.”
DeGrom received unusual support early, as J.D. Davis crushed a two-out, first-inning solo shot off Jon Lester over the big apple in center field for his 18th homer of the year. It was Davis’ third straight game with a home run and his 13th at Citi Field this season.
But the Cubs quickly struck back, on Caratini’s solo homer to right, breaking deGrom’s 21-inning streak without allowing a home run.
DeGrom followed with dominance. Then devastation. After Caratini’s home run, the reigning Cy Young winner retired the next 15 hitters he faced. Then, deGrom allowed a pair of soft seventh-inning singles, setting up Caratini’s three-run homer into the upper deck in right. Prior to his two-homer evening, Caratini had hit just seven home runs all season.
DeGrom (8-8) was pulled after seven innings — having allowed four runs and five hits, while striking out seven and walking none, throwing 100 pitches (71 strikes). He took his first loss since June 28.
As usual, the Mets’ offense wasn’t of much help to their ace. The first inning ended with Michael Conforto lining out to left, stranding two runners. The second inning ended with Jeff McNeil lining out to right, stranding two more. The third inning ended with Todd Frazier flying out to center, leaving another pair on base.
The Mets went hitless in 13 straight at-bats with a runner in scoring position. They produced one hit over the next six innings, burying the club which finished a 15-1 stretch just three weeks ago.
“I’m pretty optimistic and I feel like we’re gonna do something special,” manager Mickey Callaway said before the loss. “I’ve always felt like that the whole year, and I’ll continue to feel like that until there’s no more season left, or we’re eliminated.”
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