In defeat, deGrom gives Mets glimpse of future
NEW YORK — When David Wright signed his big contract to stay with the New York Mets, he cited the exciting young pitchers in the minor leagues as one of the main reasons for remaining with the beleaguered ballclub.
He got a pretty good glimpse of two of those arms against the Yankees.
Jacob deGrom pitched seven stellar innings in the Mets’ 1-0 loss to the Yankees on Thursday, a night after Rafael Montero was effective for six innings — both efforts coming in their major league debuts. Both had been called up from Triple-A Las Vegas.
“It’s amazing. You can’t say enough good things about those two guys,” Wright said. “DeGrom’s performance tonight was spectacular. Some of the guys that got on third were complimenting on both those guys and that’s good to hear from a good lineup.”
The Mets were stifled by two Yankees rookies, losing 4-0 to high-priced Japanese star Masahiro Tanaka before the unexpected impressive outing by Chase Whitley that helped the Bronx Bombers earn a Subways Series split after two slugfests at Yankee Stadium.
Wright had a chance to make the Mets winners when he came to the plate in the eighth with runners on first and third and two outs.
David Robertson was brought in on a double switch that lifted shortstop Derek Jeter from his final regular-season game against the Mets. He then got Wright to ground out to Jeter’s replacement, defensive whiz Brendan Ryan to end the eighth. Robertson pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save.
Alfonso Soriano’s RBI double in the seventh broke up a scoreless duel at Citi Field between starting pitchers making their major league debuts.
In a matchup of late-round picks in the 2010 draft, Whitley (15th round) pitched two-hit ball for 4 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking two. DeGrom (ninth round) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking two.
“It was unbelievable to watch that guy,” Whitley said. “He pitched a heck of a game.”
In addition to a commanding performance on the mound, the 25-year-old deGrom helped Mets pitchers end an unusual record for futility. He lined a single to center field in the third inning to end the staff’s 0-for-64 start to the season.
The Mets had long passed a century-old record established by the St. Louis Browns, whose pitchers went hitless in their first 45 at-bats in 1914.