It was a historic and near-perfect return to Flushing for Jacob deGrom.
Making his second start of the season, the 34-year-old pitcher retired the first 17 batters he faced during the New York Mets' 5-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. He finished with 12 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings, setting the record for most strikeouts by a pitcher over their first 200 MLB games with 1,521.
It was deGrom's first outing at Citi Field since July 7, 2021 when he made his final start of the season after improving to 7-2 with a 1.08 ERA. He missed the remainder of the year with an elbow sprain and then opened this season on the injured list with a stress reaction on his right scapula. DeGrom made his first start of the 2022 season on Tuesday, allowing three hits and one run with six strikeouts in a 5-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.
Against the second-place Braves on Sunday, deGrom carried a perfect game into the sixth inning before allowing a walk to No. 9 hitter Ehire Adrianza and a two-run home run to Dansby Swanson. Facing a six-inning and 75-pitch limit, deGrom was then relieved by Joely Rodriguez. He left to a standing ovation but was visibly upset after he returned to the dugout, throwing his glove in frustration.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
Using a dominant slider, deGrom threw 50 of his 76 pitches for strikes, reaching a three-ball count only twice in the game. It was the third time in MLB history that a pitcher recorded 12 or more strikeouts with 76 or fewer pitches, according to SNY.
Sports
The Mets took a 4-0 lead in the third inning after two-run doubles by Pete Alonso and Mark Canha. Rodriguez tossed 2.1 scoreless innings of relief and Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the ninth to seal it as the Mets' pitching trio combined for 19 strikeouts in the victory. The Mets won four of five games in the series with the Braves, extending their lead in the NL East to 6.5 games.
