A very large and late arriving crowd of 41, 844 came to Citi Field on Saturday night to see the Mets win their seventh straight contest and also witness a post-game fireworks display. Those in the sold-out house were successful in both endeavors.
Sensational sophomore Jacob deGrom had his third consecutive outstanding performance this season. Last year’s National League Rookie of the Year raised his career scoreless inning streak to 18.1 as he left the game with the Mets winning, 5-0, after seven innings. He righty has now pitched at least six frames in his last 15 starts, the second longest active streak in MLB.
The victory was deGrom’s seventh consecutive at Citi Field after losing his first three major league decisions at home. He is now 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA against Miami in five starts.
Mets skipper Terry Collins expressed his positive impression of his sophomore starter, “He’s got great stuff. His mechanics are very good.” He also is amazed for someone was so recently a position player and so young to be so cool and calm.
The starter also was pleased by his performance, “Mu off-speed was a lot better. I felt good tonight.” While satisfied with how he pitched, he also remarked, “You want to get better every time out.”
The seven straight Mets wins is their longest winning streak since June 10-18, 2010 when they were victorious in eight consecutive contests. The six straight home wins to begin a season ties the club mark accomplished in 1985. Their 9-3 record leads the National League East and is second to the Detroit tigers in MLB this year. The win was also their eighth straight at Citi Field, their third highest mark.
Collins pointed out that wins in April are as important in the long season as those in September, “You’ve got to take those streaks when you get them.”
The two on-the-field replacements, Travis d’Arnaud and Eric Campbell, for Mets captain David Wright again stepped up and made major contributions to the Mets victory. D’Arnaud, replacing Wright in the second spot in the batting order, hit his second home run of the season on a 2-0 pitch with one out in the third. The run batted in was the catcher’s ninth in his 10 games played this season.
Sophomore Eric Campbell, called up from Las Vegas on April 15 to replace Wright at third base, singled in his first trip to the plate in the second. He stole second and scored the first run of the game on a single by Juan Lagares. He has scored in each of the four games he played since joining the Mets. The Connecticut native singled in the sixth frame to drive in Michael Cuddyer who had doubled. Cuddyer’s base hit extended his hitting streak to seven games. Campbell scored his second run of the contest in that same inning on a home run by shortstop Wilmer Flores.
DeGrom’s remarked: “It’s a lot of fun; we’re playing good baseball’ represents the feeling of the others on the team and their fans as well.