Marlins Open 3 Game Series With Mets In NY
NEW YORK (AP) - Jacob deGrom's most impressive stretch of the season is coming at a great time for his NL Rookie of the Year consideration.
The New York Mets right-hander can gather even more attention Monday night at Citi Field in the opener of a three-game series with the Miami Marlins by extending his stretch of innings pitched without surrendering an earned run.
DeGrom (8-6, 2.62 ERA) hasn't yielded an earned run in his last 22 innings, a span that peaked with his longest outing of the season in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Colorado. He gave up three hits and struck out nine in eight innings to improve to 7-1 with a 1.60 ERA over his last 10 starts.
His manager, however, could be cautious with him in his final three starts, which was evident after electing not to have him finish off the Rockies.
"I'll reiterate what we've talked about: we are going to be very, very careful with these guys the last month," Terry Collins told MLB's official website. "If this had been July, Jake deGrom would have pitched the ninth inning. He was in a spot where he could have gone easy another 15, 18 pitches and not been affected by it. But we've made a commitment to the organization to make sure these guys are going to be healthy, so we made the decision to take him out."
DeGrom is 2-0 with a 0.45 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 20 innings over three starts against Miami. Garrett Jones has had a particularly tough time against him, going 1 for 9 with five strikeouts.
He'll be opposed by another up-and-comer in the NL East, Jarred Cosart, who had gone 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA over five starts before being stuck with the decision in Wednesday's 4-1 loss at Milwaukee. Cosart (4-2, 1.93) allowed two runs - one earned - and four hits while striking out seven in six innings.
"This guy has got good stuff and has pitched really, really well," manager Mike Redmond said.
He hasn't walked more than two batters in any of his seven starts since being traded from Houston after walking at least three in nine of 20 starts with the Astros, but he's still looking to improve his control.
"You can't walk two guys in a Major League Baseball game and expect for the other team not to score and then expect to have a chance to win," said Cosart, who hasn't faced anyone on the Mets.
After sweeping Colorado last week to begin a 10-game homestand, New York (72-78) dropped three of four to Washington. Sunday's 3-0 loss gave the Mets consecutive defeats for the first time since Aug. 27-28. Offense remained sparse as the Mets have scored 21 runs over a 5-4 stretch while hitting .149 with runners in scoring position.
The Mets have won seven of eight against Miami as well as seven of eight in the series at Citi Field.
Miami (72-76) finishes off its 10-game road trip in New York after avoiding a three-game sweep in Philadelphia with Sunday's 5-4 win. The Marlins, who had been slumping at the plate with six runs in 45 innings, trailed 4-1 entering the ninth and scored four runs off Jonathan Papelbon.
Marcell Ozuna is batting .400 on a 10-game hitting streak.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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