Pitching in playoff-like atmosphere, Mets' Jacob deGrom proved he levels playing field against any opponent

More than any game Jacob deGrom has pitched in years, the setting demanded excellence. Since 2018, the Mets’ ace has won two Cy Young Awards and established himself as the best pitcher in baseball, injuries and all, but this was different.

This felt more like 2015. This was about performing in a playoff-like atmosphere against a team the Mets almost surely will have to beat if they are to win a championship.

Simply put, the Mets needed their ace to let the Los Angeles Dodgers know that come October, best record may not mean as much as best pitcher.

The Dodgers may be the powerhouse team in all of baseball, but by shutting down their mighty offense on Wednesday night at Citi Field in a 2-1 win, deGrom served notice that the Mets may have the edge should these teams meet in the NLCS.

Max Scherzer is part of that equation, obviously, but he’s not pitching in this three-game series and so it was up to deGrom not only to play the role of stopper after Tuesday’s loss, but send the message the Mets won’t care at all how many games the Dodgers win this season or how many runs they score.

It will be a whole new ballgame in October.

Let’s not leave Edwin Diaz out of this, either. He gives the Mets a significant advantage over Dodgers closer Craig Kimbrel, who has looked very shaky at times, pitching to a 4.14 ERA and allowing more hits than innings pitched.

Indeed, Diaz continues to prove that his dominance is unshakeable this season. For while Citi Field was bananas in the ninth inning after Timmy Trumpet ushered the Mets’ closer to the mound with his live rendition of "Narco," Diaz calmly and efficiently slammed the door in a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

And though Buck Showalter only half-jokingly said there was huge pressure on his closer to deliver after all the Timmy Trumpet hype, Diaz insisted it wasn’t an issue.

"I didn’t feel any pressure," he said. "My stuff was really good warming up and that gave me confidence. It’s easy to pitch when you know you have your stuff."

Sure enough, Diaz was under control, throwing eight sliders of his nine pitches, getting a strikeout and two ground outs to ensure a drama-free ninth.

Meanwhile, the crowd was in a frenzy, standing and roaring on every pitch, finally erupting when Eduardo Escobar threw out Will Smith for the final out of the game.

And it was clear how important the game was to the Mets’ players themselves. All you really needed to see was the emotion Brandon Nimmo showed after he made a leaping catch to rob Justin Tuner of a game-tying home run in the seventh inning.

When asked about it, Nimmo related it more to significance of the matchup than merely the catch.

"The game had a playoff feel to it," Nimmo said. "Sold-out crowd, electric atmosphere, two really good teams. They’re a great team but we feel we match up well against them."

If they actually were to meet in the NLCS, it already has the makings of a classic. The Dodgers have elite pitching as well, even without the injured Walker Buehler. On Wednesday night, Tyler Anderson matched deGrom nearly pitch for pitch, in truth the only real difference being Nimmo’s catch.

And Clayton Kershaw, who pitches for the Dodgers on Thursday in the series finale as he returns from a back injury, is still plenty capable of dominance as well.

But the point is that deGrom levels the playing field because he can dominate the best of lineups. From the moment he blew a 100-mph fastball past Freddie Freeman for his first strikeout of the night to the one when he broke off a nasty slider on Gavin Lux for his ninth and last strikeout, deGrom was as electric as the big crowd at Citi Field.

He wasn’t untouchable. He hung a few sliders, one that Mookie Betts launched for a home run, and made what he called a mistake to Turner, leaving a fastball way up around the belt that led to the Nimmo catch.

But it’s the way he attacks hitters relentlessly, with his 100-mph fastballs and his nasty sliders, that makes even a great hitter like Betts feel the need to pay tribute even after taking him deep.

"He’s pretty much the best, maybe the best to ever pitch," Betts said at his locker after the game.

When he was asked what’s the toughest part of facing deGrom, his high-velocity fastball or his slider, Betts chuckled and said:

"All of it. He just kind of lives on the edge (of the plate) too. He has 101, and when he does leave it out over the plate, you swing and miss or you foul it off. So it’s very hard to hit off him."

DeGrom, meanwhile, said it’s tough pitching to the Dodgers because their lineup is strong from top to bottom. As such, he had to work awfully hard to get to pitch into the seventh inning for the first time in his six starts since his return.

He still threw 100 to Turner, but the location may have been an indication that he was tired. When Nimmo saved him with the catch, however, he had a surge of adrenaline that helped him strike out Lux to finish his night at 93 pitches.

"My goal was to strike him out after that catch," deGrom said with a smile.

In the dugout, Showalter sensed the same thing.

"You could see Jake kind of step back and say, 'Ok, I’m emptying the tank here.' I actually think Nimmo’s catch elevated his game at a time when he might have been getting a little weary."

Ideally, Showalter may have been hoping deGrom could hand the ball directly to Diaz, but Adam Ottavino worked a 1-2-3 eighth, Timmy Trumpet got to play his song for Diaz, and the Mets won a game they needed -- not just to stay three games ahead of the Atlanta Braves but to send a message about October:

The Dodgers have the best record but the Mets have the best pitcher.