Jacob deGrom continued making history on Friday night, when the New York Mets ace struck out a career-high 15 in a two-hit shutout and also doubled home the game’s first run in a 6-0 win over the visiting Washington Nationals.
The Mets snapped a three-game losing streak. The Nationals had a two-game winning streak halted. DeGrom (2-1) allowed a second-inning single to Starlin Castro and a third-inning double to Andrew Stevenson before retiring the final 19 batters. He lowered his ERA to 0.31 in authoring his fourth career complete game and second shutout.
DeGrom’s 15 strikeouts increase his season total to 50 - the most ever by a pitcher in his first four starts of the season. The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, who tied his previous career high by striking out 14 in each of his previous two starts, became only the third pitcher in history to whiff at least 14 batters in three straight starts. Pedro Martinez did so from September 4-15, 1999 and Gerrit Cole did it from Aug. 28 through Sept. 8, 2019. No pitcher has ever struck out at least 14 batters in four straight starts. DeGrom’s next turn in the rotation is scheduled for Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox.
Nationals right-hander Erick Fedde (1-2) matched zeroes with deGrom until the fifth, when he issued one-out walks to J D Davis and Jeff McNeil before deGrom, batting eighth after recording hits in each of his first three starts, doubled. His five-game hitting streak dating back to 2019 is the longest by a Mets pitcher since Mike Hampton had a five-game streak in 2000. DeGrom scored on a two-out, two-run single by Brandon Nimmo. Dominic Smith hit an RBI single in the seventh. With M-V-P chants raining down from the crowd of 8,130, deGrom batted again in the eighth and singled before scoring on Nimmo’s two-out homer.
DeGrom got three groundouts in the ninth - the last a 3-1 in which he stretched for a high throw from Pete Alonso - to become the second Mets pitcher to strike out at least 15 and walk none in a shutout. Dwight Gooden had 16 strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 12, 1984.
Happ shuts down Pirates
to end Twins’ skid
Minnesota Twins left-hander J.A. Happ took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning Friday in a 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Minneapolis. Happ (1-0) allowed two walks and a double by Jacob Stallings to break up the no-hitter with one out in the eighth. Happ, who was removed right after the hit, struck out three and threw a season-high 95 pitches.
Tyler Duffey pitched a scoreless inning, and Taylor Rogers got the final two outs to sew up the shutout on a combined one-hitter. Rogers picked up his first save.
Willians Astudillo and Jake Cave hit solo homers for the Twins, who had lost four in a row and nine of their previous 10 games.
Pittsburgh starter J T Brubaker (2-1) had a solid night, giving up two runs and five hits in seven innings, with no walks and five strikeouts, but he couldn’t match Happ.
Happ walked Erik Gonzalez and Stallings in the second, then mostly cruised into the eighth. Happ previously in his career twice had gone 4 2/3 innings before giving up a hit, according to AT&T Sportsnet.
That’s almost how it worked out this time. With two outs in the fifth, Pittsburgh’s Wilmer Difo hit a chopper back to and off of Happ, who bobbled it momentarily before throwing to first.
Difo beat the throw, but he was ruled out for running out of the base path, something that he protested. However, the play is not open to a challenge, and Happ’s no-hit bid was alive through five. With two outs in the third, Astudillo hit his first homer of the season, to left off a pitch nearly up to the level of his chin, for a 1-0 Minnesota lead.

Results
Mets    6-0    Nationals
Twins    2-0    Pirates
Athletics    3-1    Orioles
Padres    6-1    Dodgers
Cardinals    5-4    Reds
Blue Jays    5-3    Rays
Cubs    15-2    Brewers
Braves    5-4    D’backs
Rockies    5-4    Phillies
Astros    5-4    Angels
Yankees    5-3    Indians
Giants    5-3    Marlins
Royals    6-2    Tigers
Red Sox    6-5    Mariners
White Sox    9-7    Rangers