Jacob deGrom Bad Again, Mets Lose to Rangers
Jacob deGrom followed one of the worst outings of his career with THE worst, as the Mets lose the opener of their two-game series against the Texas Rangers in a place called Global Life Park in Arlington.
The runs came early and often for both teams in this bandbox. The Mets scored one in the first on a leadoff double by Michael Conforto and a single by Lucas Duda off old pal Dillon Gee.
The Rangers answered back with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning, but Juan Lagares broke the tie with a solo shot to right in the second inning.
Jacob deGrom allowed two runs in the bottom of the second to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead. But solo homers by Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker put the Mets back in the lead, 4-3 (it would have been three homer runs in a row if not for an over-the-wall catch on a drive by Jay Bruce to center).
But deGrom clearly did not have it on this night. A two-run homer by Joey Gallo in the third gave the Rangers a 5-4 lead and three more runs in the fourth made it 8-4.
deGrom was done after four, allowing eight runs on 10 hits. After allowing seven runs to the Brewers in his last start, deGrom’s ERA has ballooned to 4.75. Before those two starts, it was an excellent 3.23.
After a scoreless fifth, Josh Smoker gave up two runs in the sixth to make it 10-4.
The Mets loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth. Bruce grounded out to first, plating a run to make it 10-5. But the runners at second and third were stranded.
The Mets made it interesting in the ninth. With no outs, Curtis Granderson hit a two-run homer and on the very next pitch, Travis d’Arnaud connected on a solo shot to cut the Rangers lead to 10-8. Lagares singled (his fourth hit of the game) and stole second. Conforto walked. But Cabrera struck out for the first out and Bruce grounded into a double play to end the game.
Mets pound out 17 hits but lose, 10-8. They have allowed double-digit runs in three of their last four games and drop to a season-high eight games under .500.