DENVER — As electric as the Jacob deGrom show was a day earlier, the methodical approach Sunday of his rotation-mate might have been just as impressive.
Marcus Stroman dazzled, in an efficient manner, carrying the Mets on a day their lineup chose Rocky Mountain hibernation over a Coors Field explosion.
Eight innings, three hits allowed, 90 pitches. That performance from Stroman carried a 2-1 victory over the Rockies in front of 15,082 — most of whom seemed to be cheering for the Mets.
This nail-biter wasn’t complete until a replay review confirmed that James McCann threw out Trevor Story attempting to steal second base with two outs in the ninth after he had singled against Edwin Diaz. The Mets won for the fifth time in six games and will spend an off day in Chicago preparing for a series against the Cubs.
Stroman (3-0) didn’t dent until the seventh, when Charlie Blackmon followed Story’s double with an RBI single that pulled the Rockies within 2-1. But Stroman recovered to strike out C.J. Cron and Garrett Hampson in succession to escape the inning. Stroman had extended his scoreless streak to 14 innings before Blackmon’s single.
On Saturday, deGrom matched a career high with 14 strikeouts, which included nine straight (one short of the MLB record established by Tom Seaver). Stroman struck out only five, relying on his cutter/slider/sinker mix to induce grounders and keep the ball in play.
Adding to his pitching excellence, Stroman had a fielding gem, backhanding Josh Fuentes’ grounder in the eighth and hurling an off-balance, five-hopper to first base that Pete Alonso secured for the out.
Michael Conforto’s double in the second inning led to the Mets scoring a run on Jeff McNeil’s RBI groundout. That rally started with Pete Alonso’s single leading off the inning.
Cron’s fielding error on McNeil’s grounder in the fourth led to an unearned run that scored on J.D. Davis’ RBI single. Conforto’s two-out single ignited that rally.
Stroman allowed a single to Raimel Tapia leading off the game, but got Ryan McMahon to hit into a double play. In the third, Stroman walked Dom Nunez and received the benefit of a call when it was ruled Francisco Lindor’s drop on a throw to second base on Antonio Senzatela’s bunt came after Lindor established control.
Stroman received a defensive boost in the fourth, when Brandon Nimmo raced to the fence in right-center to snag Story’s long drive.
