Braves Shell Mets' deGrom, Scherzer in Biggest Series of the Season
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When I've spoken with baseball fans and pundits from around the country this season, there's been one prevailing sentiment about the New York Mets, as it pertains to their World Series hopes.
'I'd take their top two pitchers over any other one-two punch in the National League. Facing deGrom and Scherzer in October is going to be a nightmare for opposing teams.'
Or something like that.
Many have held a common belief that having Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer should give the Mets an immediate edge over their postseason opponents, or at the very least, in the pitching department.
With their National League East hopes on the line, manager Buck Showalter gave the ball to his co-aces Friday and Saturday night. The Mets mission was simple.
With a one-game lead entering the series, the Mets would need to win just one game in order to head into their final series of the season with a division lead. Winning just one game this weekend would assure that the Mets would own the tiebreaker over the Atlanta Braves.
Major League Baseball no longer will have tiebreaker games, better known as 'game 163s,' meaning that head-to-head record will be the deciding factor in the event of a tie.
Win one game, and the Mets would hold a comfortable lead entering their final three-game series of the regular season, at home, against the Washington Nationals.
The Braves were all over deGrom and Scherzer Friday and Saturday night, winning the first two games of their critical three-game series, 5-2 and 4-2, respectively.
Scherzer, who had been exceptional since returning from the Injured List September 19, uncharacteristically gave up four runs on nine hits, no walks, and two home runs, exiting Saturday's contest in the sixth inning.
In his last start against the Braves August 17, the Braves hung four runs on Scherzer as the 38-year-old gave up three hits and three walks.
In the time between both starts, Scherzer also allowed four runs against the New York Yankees, but despite the three outlier starts, he has pitched extremely well over his last seven starts, logging a 3.14 ERA and 0.88 WHIP to go with 47 strikeouts over 42.2 innings.
DeGrom, on the other hand, continues to struggle.
The 34-year-old has a 6.00 ERA over his last four starts, allowing three or more runs and at least one home run in each start, with three starts coming against sub-.500 teams (Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics). It is his worst four-start stretch since Spring 2017.
Meanwhile, the Braves' youthful starting pitchers hummed along nicely. As deGrom and Scherzer each allowed three or more runs, 27-year-old Kyle Wright and 28-year-old Max Fried mowed through the Mets' potent lineup, allowing a combined three runs between the two pitchers Friday and Saturday.
Wright leads the Majors in wins, while Fried is vying for his first ever National League Cy Young, with the NL's fourth-lowest ERA (2.48) among qualified starters.
Is the Mets' rotation still the rotation to beat in the National League, entering October?
Now, the Mets enter a must-win game three in Atlanta Sunday night, with the division on the line. Win, and secure a virtual one-game lead. Lose, and fall behind three games, while the Braves take the tiebreaker.
After failing to win with deGrom and Scherzer on the mound, the Mets will give the ball to Chris Bassitt, as Charlie Morton will take the hill for the Braves. First pitch is 7:08 p.m. ET.
