NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom struck out nine over six innings of one-run ball Thursday night, leading the New York Mets to a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Pete Alonso hit his 31st homer off the advertising signage in left field during a three-run third. The Mets increased their NL East lead over the idle Atlanta Braves to two games.
DeGrom (3-1) retired the first 13 batters, eventually allowing three hits and walking one. He has a 2.15 ERA and has struck out 46 while walking just two in 29 1/3 innings spanning five starts since his return from elbow and scapula injuries.
DeGrom was perfect until Jose Iglesias had an infield single with one out in the fifth. Randal Grichuk followed with a double down the third base line but deGrom struck out Sam Hilliard and got Brian Serven to line out to right.
Ryan McMahon, who saw a total of 11 pitches in his first two at-bats against deGrom, hit a 436-foot homer with one out in the sixth — the longest homer off deGrom since Kris Bryant’s 436-foot drive in 2015.
The Rockies left the bases loaded against Seth Lugo in the seventh. Closer Edwin Diaz worked around a hit and a walk in the eighth while facing the middle of Colorado’s order.
Adam Ottavino threw a perfect ninth for his first save since Sept. 1, 2021, when he was a member of the Boston Red Sox.
Alonso, who singled in his first at-bat, has multiple hits in consecutive games for the first time since July 31-Aug. 1. He was hitting just .167 in his previous 13 games.
Ryan Feltner (2-5) lasted 4 2/3 innings and was charged three runs on six hits. The right-hander, who went to a three-ball count on eight of the 21 batters he faced, walked two and struck out two.
SECOND TRY, FIRST PITCH
Ambassador Mikio Mori, the Japanese consul-general in New York, threw out the ceremonial first pitch — more than three months later than anticipated.
Mori was scheduled to throw out the first pitch prior to a game against the Seattle Mariners on May 16 as part of Japanese Heritage Night and one day before the first Japan Parade in New York City. But Mori arrived at the mound just after the famously intense Max Scherzer began his warmups. An equally amusing and awkward scene played out throughout Scherzer’s routine before Mori exited the field.
There were no such snafus Thursday, when Mori threw the first pitch to Masato Yoshii — the former Mets and Rockies pitcher — at 6:53 PM, about 15 minutes before deGrom headed out of the dugout to warm up to “Simple Man.”
SHEA IT ISN’T SO
Rockies manager Bud Black, who pitched for five teams from 1981 through 1995, went 5-0 with a 1.93 ERA in eight starts against the Mets — the only opponent whom Black had a sub-2.00 ERA against.
“I pitched well here (at Shea Stadium) and I pitched well in San Francisco against them,” Black said. “Don’t know why, but it’s good to hear.”
Told his ERA was deGrom-like, Black grinned.
“Well,” Black said before pausing. “I’ll take that, too, as a compliment. Because he’s a good one.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rockies: RHP Chad Kuhl (right hip) was activated from the 15-day injured list and is slated to return to the rotation Friday. Black said Kuhl, who threw 86 pitches in a rehab start for Triple-A Albuquerque last Saturday, should be able to handle his usual workload against the Mets. To make room for Kuhl on the roster, RHP Robert Stephenson was designated for assignment.
Mets: INF Eduardo Escobar (left oblique) began a rehab assignment with Single-A Brooklyn and went 2 for 4 while playing seven innings at shortstop — a position at which he hasn’t started in the majors since 2018. Escobar could return this weekend .
UP NEXT
Rockies: Kuhl (6-7, 5.16 ERA) is 0-2 with an 11.49 ERA in four starts since his most recent win on July 8.
Mets: RHP Chris Bassitt (11-7, 3.26 ERA) is 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA in four starts this month.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports