Jacob deGrom wins battle of young pitchers, Mets tie series with Nationals

WASHINGTON — When he exited with one out in the seventh inning Tuesday, Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Joe Ross had pitched every bit as well as reigning Rookie of the Year pitcher Jacob deGrom.

Both pitchers, one of whom is a rising star and one of whom is working to be one, turned in quality starts. Both left the game before reaching the 90-pitch mark as their managers tried to pull out the win.

In the end, though, the two runners Ross left on base came around to score, and the New York Mets’ gamble paid off in a 7-2 win.

Holding a 2-1 lead, Ross allowed a single and a double to lead off the top of the seventh. After he induced a popout from Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki, the Mets pinch-hit Eric Campbell for deGrom, while the Nationals replaced Ross on the mound with Aaron Barrett.

“It’s one of the situations where I wanted to stay in and try to pitch out of it, but bringing in Barrett was probably the smart move,” Ross said. “I can’t really complain about that.”

Two pitches later, Campbell hit the go-ahead two-run single off Barrett, giving the Mets a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

DeGrom, in line for the loss when he threw his last pitch, ended up earning the win when his team helped him out. Mets manager Terry Collins lifted him after just six innings and 82 pitches. He had allowed three hits and two earned runs.

“Yeah, but we gotta score,” Collins said. “This is a baseball game. It’s not about one guy, it’s not about Jake deGrom giving us two more innings. In a game you’re behind by a run and you got runners on second and third and the pitcher’s up, you gotta pinch-hit. You gotta trust your bullpen, you gotta trust the guy off the bench, but that’s how you play the game.”

Then, the New York bullpen finished the job, pitching three scoreless innings.

Making his first appearance since striking out the side on 10 pitches in the All-Star Game last week, deGrom gave the Mets the effort they needed. New York came into this week’s series trailing the Nationals by two games in the National League East, and Washington took the series opener Monday, 7-2.

“It’s a big win for us,” Collins said. “We gotta fight, and we gotta catch these guys.”

DeGrom struck out Michael A. Taylor and Danny Espinosa to open the game, pitching like he did in the All-Star Game, and rolled through the first four innings while facing the minimum number of hitters. The only base runner was Ian Desmond, who singled but was caught stealing three pitches later.

The only damage deGrom allowed was a two-run home run by Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos in the fifth.

Ross had a similar line through six innings, but with only one run allowed after stranding two in the fourth. He was in line for the win until Campbell’s hit.

“He was in command the whole time he was out there,” Williams said. “Got up there in some pitches and had some trouble in the seventh inning, but I thought he pitched great.”

The Nationals couldn’t tie the game in the seventh or eighth, and in the top of the ninth, reliever Tanner Roark gave up four more runs to put the game out of reach.

Ross is now 2-2 in four big-league starts. In three starts in place of injured right-hander Stephen Strasburg, he struck out 23 over 20.1 innings and allowed just six earned runs.

He went down to Class AAA Syracuse when Strasburg returned, but came back to the major-league club with Strasburg out again. Williams said before the game that his current plan is to keep Ross in Strasburg’s rotation spot until Strasburg returns—which puts him in line to face another young phenom, the Pirates’ Gerrit Cole, in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

After a strong start Tuesday, that means another chance to prove himself against the best young pitchers in the game.

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