NEW YORK — On Friday night
Michael Saunders Jersey , Aaron Nola moved into a tie for the National League lead by earning his 16th victory.On Saturday night, Max Scherzer not only
broke that tie, he notched his 17th win by becoming the second pitcher in the NL
to throw a second complete game this season.Your move, Jacob deGrom.Article
continues below ...The ace of the New York Mets will look to keep pace with his
competition for the NL Cy Young Award on Sunday afternoon, when deGrom takes the
mound in the finale of a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at
Citi Field.DeGrom (8-8, 1.68 ERA) is scheduled to oppose the Phillies’ Vince
Velasquez (9-10, 4.10) in a battle of right-handers.The Mets evened the series
Saturday night, when Todd Frazier hit a three-run homer and finished with four
RBIs in a 10-5 victory. Noah Syndergaard earned the win by allowing four runs
over a 6 2/3-inning stint that ended when he was hit in the right rib cage by a
comebacker off the bat of Cesar Hernandez. X-rays were negative and Syndergaard
expects to make his next start as scheduled.The last two days have tightened a
Cy Young Award race that has appeared to be tilting in deGrom’s direction over
the last couple weeks. Nola’s win Friday snapped a two-start hiccup in which he
went 0-1 while allowing seven runs over 12 2/3 innings. Scherzer’s victory ended
a three-start winless streak in which he posted a 3.79 ERA.DeGrom, meanwhile,
has been doing all he can to take wins out of the equation. He once again didn’t
earn a win for his efforts Monday, when he didn’t factor into the decision
despite allowing one run on two hits over six innings in the Mets’ 4-2 victory
over the Los Angeles Dodgers.It was the 25th straight start in which deGrom gave
up three runs or fewer, which broke the modern record set by Dwight Gooden when
he won the Cy Young Award for the Mets in 1985 and tied the major league record
set by Leonard Cole of the Chicago Cubs in 1910. It was also his 20th straight
quality start, breaking the team record set by Tom Seaver in 1973.In
addition
http://www.royalsfanproshop.com/authentic-ryan-goins-jersey , it was the 12th time this season deGrom has not earned a win despite pitching at
least six innings and giving up two runs or fewer. Mets manager Mickey Callaway
has been hoping for weeks deGrom’s tiny ERA — he is more than half a run better
than Nola (2.29) and Scherzer (2.33) — will outweigh the lack of wins. No
starting pitcher has ever won the Cy Young with fewer than 13 wins.“He’s been
the best pitcher in all of baseball,” Callaway told reporters Monday night.
“It’s grit and determination. He just won’t be beaten.”The Phillies (74-67) have
not been quite as formidable over the past month. If Philadelphia can’t figure
out a way to beat deGrom and the Mets (64-77) on Sunday, it will mark the 10th
straight series in which Phillies have not earned a series victory.The Phillies
are 11-19 since a four-game sweep of the Miami Marlins from Aug. 2-5. Despite
the slide, Philadelphia is only 3 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL
East.Runs have been at a premium during the skid for the Phillies, who are
averaging 3.7 runs per game over the last 30 contests. In hopes of reviving the
offense, manager Gabe Kapler unveiled an unorthodox lineup Saturday, when usual
first baseman Carlos Santana played third base and range-challenged Asdrubal
Cabrera started at shortstop.After the Phillies scored five runs Saturday,
Kapler said he might be willing to sacrifice defense again Sunday.“Going up
against a pitcher like Syndergaard, going up (Sunday) against a pitcher like
deGrom, you have to find a way to score runs,” Kapler said. “Sometimes that
means making that tradeoff, putting your best offensive team on the field. We’ll
think about doing it again tomorrow.”Velasquez took the loss in his most recent
start Monday,
