PHOENIX -- Jacob deGrom's outing began inauspiciously Sunday. After not allowing an extra-base hit in 33 1/3 innings entering his start, deGrom surrendered a leadoff double to Ender Inciarte in the first inning. A.J. Pollock followed with a single. And the Arizona Diamondbacks eventually produced two runs in the first inning, in part courtesy of an error from third baseman Eric Campbell on a would-be double-play grounder.

Still, deGrom settled down and ultimately earned the win as the New York Mets took over sole possession of first place in the NL East with a 6-3 win against the D-backs at Chase Field.

DeGrom struck out five straight batters after David Peralta's first-inning sacrifice fly briefly staked the D-backs to a 2-1 lead. DeGrom ultimately limited Arizona to three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks in seven innings. He improved to 7-4 with a 2.42 ERA. DeGrom struck out 10 batters while tossing a season-high 109 pitches.

“You saw the ball come down,” manager Terry Collins said. “The balls early in the game were right belt high on the plate. He started moving the ball around, pitching to the sides of the plate a little bit better. He used his changeup much more effectively after the first inning.”

Said deGrom: “I made some mistakes over the middle. After that, I had to really refocus and try to start locating a little better. I was leaving it up to those first two batters. And then, after that, I started getting it down and was getting some groundballs. That’s kind of what my game plan was to begin with.”