Jacob deGrom was his usual Cy Young self on Saturday, racking up 14 strikeouts, tying a career-high, while allowing just one run through eight innings of work.
The Mets also lost 3-0, an all-too familiar narrative of the offense failing to help its bonafide ace.
deGrom and a lack of run support have been paired together for years, and Saturday was another painful example of the Mets getting a vintage outing from their best pitcher, only to struggle at the plate and walk away with a loss.
"An outing like that, you can call it a waste," manager Luis Rojas said after the game. "That was a strong outing. That's one of the best outings, I know he gave up a solo homer, but that's one of the best outings I've seen him have…he was our best player out there today."
Of course, deGrom wasn't focused on the lack of run support, instead wishing he could get back his lone mistake of the game, a 100 mph fastball that Jazz Chisholm blasted into right field for a solo home run in the second inning.
"I think I'm more frustrated about the fastball that was hit for a homer," deGrom said. "He sold out for it, probably should have done a better job recognizing that he was gonna try to get to that fastball. So that's what kind of eats at me the most, giving up that run there."
The Mets had their chances, but went hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position, while the Marlins added two insurance runs in the ninth after deGrom's day was already finished.
"It's a team effort," deGrom said. "We're out there trying to win every baseball game. Those guys had a tough matchup today. Their guy was really good one the mound. He didn't make many mistakes and did a good job pitching with runners in scoring position. That's baseball…today we just got beat."
deGrom went six shutout innings on Opening Day before the Phillies erased a 2-0 deficit with a five-run rally in the eighth, and after Saturday's outing, his ERA is a miniscule 0.64. But the Mets are 0-2 in those two games, as the lack of run support has bled over into 2021 to begin the new season.
"Definitely disappointed," Rojas said. "It was another good outing from Jake. He gave us a chance to be in the game, score some runs and win a ballgame…we had a couple chances today and didn't come through."
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