Jacob deGrom was electric but the Mets offense was stagnant as the Rays took this one, 2-1 >> Box Score
Here's five things to know from Monday's game
1. Jacob deGrom had another fabulous outing for the Mets Monday night, throwing 112 pitches in 7.0 innings for just four hits, two earned runs, two walks and 14 strikeouts — which tied his high mark for the season. However, the Mets offense wasn't able to give him much while he was out there.
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2. The Rays struck first with a sac fly in the second inning from Manuel Margot, bringing in Nate Lowe from third to make it 1-0. Lowe then homered in the fourth and stretched things out to 2-0.
3. A bases-loaded, RBI single by Jeff McNeil that brought in Guillermo Heredia to make it 2-1 in the fifth inning, but New York was unable to do much else from there.
4. McNeil (two hits) and Wilson Ramos (two hits) were the only Mets to record a hit Monday in what was a very quiet night from the offense.
The quiet night at the plate included 0-for-4 nights from both Dom Smith and Robinson Cano, who are both batting over .300 this season.
5. The Mets are now 3.5 GB from the second wild card spot — getting some help from the Nationals, who defeated the Phillies Monday night to keep things a bit closer. The Mets won't have a winning record for the third time in four years.
DeGrom is the fourth Met ever to strike out 14 batters and lose, and he joins Chris Sale as the only pitcher since 2014 to strike out 14 and get the loss.
What's next
The Mets and Rays will go at it again Tuesday for Game 2 of this three game series at 7:10 p.m. at Citi Field.