Mets' deGrom goes distance in win over Cubs

[June 13, 2017]  NEW YORK -- At some point in the middle innings Monday night, baseball lifer Terry Collins realized he was seeing something that used to be commonplace but was now unusual.

The New York Mets manager saw an even rarer old-school relic in the ninth inning: His starting pitcher was still on the mound.

Right-hander Jacob deGrom, reeling from the worst two-start stretch of his career, induced four double-play grounders in throwing his second career complete game Monday night, when he twirled a five-hitter to lead the Mets past the Chicago Cubs 6-1 at Citi Field.

"I don't know how many double plays we turned -- four or five -- but those guys made great plays behind me tonight," deGrom said.

DeGrom (5-3) got the Cubs to hit into a 4-6-3 double play -- Neil Walker to Asdrubal Cabrera to Lucas Duda -- in four straight innings between the third and the sixth. The final three all came after deGrom allowed the leadoff batter to reach base.

"It was pretty funny to have those double plays tonight," Collins said. "We were talking in the dugout yesterday -- you just don't see ground balls anymore, with the new launch angle stuff that's going around through baseball, nobody hits ground balls."

Nor does anyone throw complete games anymore. DeGrom's was the first by a Mets pitcher since the right-hander tossed a one-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies last July 16. His complete games are the only ones by New York since the start of the 2016 season.

Despite traveling into unfamiliar territory, deGrom took command of the dugout conversation with Collins in between the top and bottom of the eighth, when the Mets added two runs to remove any chance for a save situation.

"I walked in and said I wanted to finish the game," deGrom said. "So that's when I knew I was going back out."

The reporters gathered around deGrom chuckled, but his stoic expression never wavered.

"You don't get many chances, I feel like, to finish games," deGrom said to a follow-up question. "And that was the chance. So I wanted to stay out there."

DeGrom ended up making the last out of the bottom of the eighth before making quick work of the Cubs in the ninth, when he needed just 10 pitches to throw a perfect inning and cap a game that lasted just two hours and 23 minutes -- the shortest of the season for the Mets.

The last of deGrom's 116 pitches -- the fifth-most of his career -- was a 97 mph fastball. He walked four, struck out six and retired the final seven batters following Addison Russell's two-out homer in the seventh.

The gem came after deGrom allowed 15 runs over eight innings in his previous two starts.

"I got my teeth kicked in," deGrom said. "Definitely wanted to have a good one, and fortunate enough tonight that I did."

Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) pitches during the second inning against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Cabrera atoned for his recent fielding struggles -- three errors in the last three games, including a drop of a pop-up off the bat of Jason Heyward in the second inning Monday -- by hitting a pair of solo homers. Jay Bruce went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer while Travis d'Arnaud (RBI double) and Jose Reyes (RBI single) added run-scoring hits in the ninth.

Five players had a hit apiece for the Cubs (31-32), who were limited to three runs or fewer for the fourth time in the last five games, a stretch in which the defending World Series champions are 1-4.

"We can't keep using that as an excuse, that the other team's pitcher is good," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "We've got to start beating some better pitchers, period. You don't get to the promised land without winning games like that -- maybe 3-2, 4-3, whatever."

Right-hander John Lackey (4-7) took the loss after giving up four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out one over five innings.

"Definitely didn't feel great today," Lackey said. "Need to pitch better. The other guy pitched really good."

NOTES: Mets OF Michael Conforto (back) did not play. Manager Terry Collins said Conforto developed a stiff back during Saturday's doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves and that he wasn't available to pinch-hit on Monday. Conforto is day-to-day. ... Mets LF Yoenis Cespedes left after the fifth inning due to a sore left heel. Cespedes just returned from the disabled list Saturday after missing 37 games due to left hamstring and right quad injuries. Both Cespedes and Collins expressed confidence he would return to the lineup Tuesday. .... Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (right hand) is scheduled to throw a side session Tuesday and could return to the rotation this weekend. ... The Cubs finished one double play shy of the team record for a game, last set on June 4, 1981.

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