NEW YORK -- Zack Greinke may possess the best ERA in the majors, but Jacob deGrom outpitched the Los Angeles Dodgers ace on Sunday.
On the mound, DeGrom tossed 7⅔ scoreless innings. At the plate, deGrom’s grounder plated Kirk Nieuwenhuis to snap Greinke’s scoreless streak at 45⅔ innings.
DeGrom ultimately received a no-decision when Jeurys Familia suffered a blown save, but the New York Mets beat the Dodgers 3-2 in 10 innings to earn a split of the four-game series.
DeGrom’s ERA now sits at 2.05, trailing only Greinke in the majors. Gerrit Cole and Scott Kazmir then check in at 2.24, followed by Shelby Miller at 2.27 and Sonny Gray at 2.30.
DeGrom has 12 career scoreless starts, which matches Jose Fernandez for the most in a pitcher's first 41 career games in the past 100 years. He is the first Met with five scoreless starts of at least 7⅔ innings in a season since David Cone in 1992.
“I’m definitely enjoying it,” deGrom said of his recent big-game pitching, which includes striking out the side in the All-Star Game. “I knew coming into today it would probably be a close game. I wanted to go out there and just put up zeroes and give us a chance to win.”
DeGrom’s fastball averaged an eye-popping 96 mph for the second straight start. He allowed only two hits and two walks while striking out eight in 7⅔ innings.
“Reading some swings, they weren’t catching up to the fastball early on,” deGrom said. “So I stuck with it.”
DeGrom said he chatted with Greinke at the All-Star Game as well as early Sunday before the pitchers began to loosen for their face-off.
“Whenever I found out he was throwing this game, I was excited,” deGrom said. “I knew it would be fun and would probably be a pitchers’ duel. I was looking forward to that.”
As for the run-scoring grounder that ended Greinke’s streak, deGrom said he was aware of the streak but wasn't thinking of it when he entered the batter’s box with Nieuwenhuis on third base in the third inning.
“I knew it was going to be a close game,” deGrom said. “That at-bat, they gave me the green light to swing. I wanted to try to put the ball in play and get a run in. His streak was unbelievable, and he’s having an unbelievable year. He’s a great pitcher.”