The New York Mets got what has come to be expected out of Jason Vargas on Saturday night. Now the Mets will need Jacob deGrom to bounce back from his most unexpected outing in a year and a half if they hope to earn a series win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night.
DeGrom (2-1, 3.18 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Julio Teheran (1-1, 6.00 ERA) in a battle of Opening Day starters as the Braves host the Mets in the finale of a four-game series.
The Braves put themselves in position to earn a split Saturday night, when starter Sean Newcomb lasted just 1 1/3 innings before Touki Toussaint tossed six impressive innings of one-run relief and earned the win in Atlanta’s 11-7 victory.
Toussaint’s outing was tied for the longest by a reliever in the majors this season — Adrian Sampson of the Texas Rangers also threw six innings on April 1 — and was the longest by a Braves reliever since July 26, 2011, when Cristhian Martinez threw six innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Newcomb gave up four runs but still had a better night than Vargas, who was chased with one out in the first after allowing four runs. Vargas now has a 6.32 ERA in 23 games (22 starts) for the Mets since the start of last season, which is the highest for any pitcher who has made at least 20 starts.
Of course, if the Mets are going to get a short outing from a starter, it may as well happen before deGrom starts. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner is sure to be focused Sunday following a rare subpar performance Tuesday, when he took the loss after allowing six runs over four innings as New York fell 14-8 to the Minnesota Twins.
The rough night ended two historic streaks for deGrom. He had allowed three runs or fewer in each of his 31 starts, a big-league record, and recorded a quality start in his previous 26 appearances, which tied the mark set by Hall of Famer Bob Gibson during the 1967-68 seasons.
“I’ve been through it before and hopefully I’m around long enough to have a couple more (bad starts),” deGrom said afterward. “There were a lot of good pitchers that had games like this.
“This one’s over with. Get ready for the next one.”
While Teheran earned his first win of the season in his most recent appearance on Monday, he’ll look to improve as well after giving up six runs over five innings as the Braves edged the Colorado Rockies 8-6. Teheran, who has lasted exactly five innings in all three starts this year, actually had a no-hitter through four innings against the Rockies before allowing all six runs on five hits, including two homers, and a walk in the fifth inning at Coors Field.
“It was only one bad inning,” Teheran said. “The good thing was that we scored early. We got the offense working.”
DeGrom is 6-5 despite recording a 1.70 ERA in 17 starts against the Braves. Teheran is 9-7 with a 2.39 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) against the Mets, whom he has faced more than any other opponent.
