NEW YORK — Jacob deGrom did what you would expect him to do against the Pirates on Sunday: He deGrominated.
But then, suddenly and shockingly, deGrom was in the dugout shaking his head after giving up a game-tying three-run home run.
So the Mets had to go to Plan B to finish a four-game sweep of the Pirates. That came on Brandon Nimmo’s go-ahead single in the eighth that scored secret weapon Terrence Gore, the speedster with three World Series rings who set up the run as a pinch runner by stealing second and moving to third on a throwing error.
The Mets added three more runs in the inning and went on to a 7-3 victory before 36,291 at Citi Field.
The Mets struck out a combined 20 batters: a season-high 13 by deGrom, a career-high five by Joely Rodriguez, one by Seth Lugo and the final out of the game by Trevor May.
That's a franchise record for a nine-inning game.
After allowing a leadoff double and then retiring 15 in a row, deGrom took the mound for the sixth with a 3-0 lead.
Three batters later, the lead was gone, and so was deGrom.
Zack Collins lined a single to center. Jason Delay lofted a single to right. Oneil Cruz launched a game-tying home run into the Pirates' bullpen in right-center.
DeGrom, who threw a season-high 101 pitches, allowed three earned runs for the second straight start. In two outings, his ERA has climbed from 1.66 to 2.32.
In the first, deGrom allowed a leadoff double to Cruz (111 miles per hour off the base of the right-centerfield wall) before striking out the side in a 26-pitch inning.
The Pirates, who started five rookies, came into the game tied with Miami for the fewest runs in the NL with 520.
But deGrom’s velocity was down across the board in the outing, according to MLB’s pitch-tracking technology. His fastball averaged 97.6 (down from a season average of 99.2). His slider averaged 91.3 (down from 92.9). His changeup averaged 91.2 (down from 92.3). His curveball averaged 80.0 (down from 83.3).
Jeff McNeil gave deGrom a 1-0 lead on a first-inning RBI single off Johan Oviedo. Also in that inning: a benches-clearing incident after Pete Alonso was hit on the left elbow pad by Oviedo.
Alonso jawed at Oviedo as the benches and bullpens emptied. No punches were thrown. There was a lot of angry milling. Both benched were warned, much to the apparent chagrin of Mets manager Buck Showalter.
Four Mets were hit by pitches on Saturday night and the team has been hit a MLB-high 102 times this season. The MLB record is 105 by the 2021 Reds.
The Mets made it 3-0 in the second on McNeil’s bases-loaded walk and a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Alonso.
In the eighth, Tomas Nido led off with a single and was replaced at first by Gore, who was a member of the World Series-winning Royals in 2015, Dodgers in 2020 and Atlanta in 2021.
Gore, who the Mets called up on Aug. 31 to make him postseason eligible, stole second easily and moved to third on Delay’s throwing error.
The Mets had been 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position before Nimmo hit a soft single to left off former Yankee Manny Banuelos. Gore scored his first run in the majors since 2019.
Daniel Vogelbach added a two-run single and another run scored on an Eduardo Escobar groundout one batter after the Pirates committed their fourth error of the game.
The Mets remained one game ahead of Atlanta in the NL East as the defending World Series champions beat the Phillies for their third consecutive victory.
