Jacob deGrom celebrated an unusually short comeback with the New York Mets on Sunday. After only one inning and 45 pitches, the pitcher was off work – unhurt, but with an enormously high pitch count.
The Mets had activated deGrom from the Disabled List on Sunday after he had overstretched his elbow during the swing. At the 2-4 defeat in Philadelphia, however, he was again allowed to score, but needed 45 pitches for three outs. He was then replaced.
“I was a little surprised, to be honest,” deGrom explained after his performance. “I definitely would have liked to go out again. I understand the reason for the decision, of course, but who wants to pitch an inning as a starter?”
The 45 pitches were the most deGrom ever needed for an inning in MLB. His highest score so far in his rookie season was 37 in the first inning against Atlanta Braves 2014.
In his ominous inning he distributed walks to Cesar Hernandez, Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera. He then managed a strikeout against Rhys Hoskins, a force-out at Home Plate after Carlos Santana’s Ground Ball and another strike-out against Maikel Franco.
“I felt good, that’s why it was so frustrating. I felt great warming up and then I missed my spot by four feet with my first pitch in the game,” deGrom told reporters.
However, deGrom wrote history with the performance: He is the first pitcher ever since the Earned Run 2013 became an official statistic, who started a game, pitched an inning or less, threw at least 45 pitches and did not make an Earned Run.
All results of the night you will find in our new MLB Scoreboard.
This article was published without previous view by the Major League Baseball.