Nationals helpless against brilliant deGrom (updated)

The Nationals know a thing or two about brilliant pitching performances. This is the franchise, after all, that has seen Max Scherzer throw two no-hitters and strike out 20 batters in another game, Stephen Strasburg strike out 14 in his major league debut and Jordan Zimmermann hold the Marlins hitless on the final day of the regular season.

It takes a lot to impress these guys, and rightfully so. Tonight, though, might have done the trick.

The Nats have never been no-hit since arriving in town in 2005, and they still haven't. But it's quite possible they've never been dominated in one single game the way they were dominated tonight by Jacob deGrom. He was that good.

Bolstering his already strong case as the best pitcher in baseball, deGrom painted a masterpiece during the Mets' 6-0 victory in New York. He allowed two early hits to Starlin Castro and Andrew Stevenson, but nothing else during a 109-pitch shutout in which he struck out 15 and did not issue a walk.

"I've been in this league a long time," said manager Davey Martinez, who was teammates with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz in Atlanta, was in right field when Dennis Martinez threw a perfect game for the Expos and was in the Cubs dugout for both of Jake Arrieta's no-hitters. "That's one of the better ones I've seen."

And it wasn't just about the results. The box score was eye-popping on its own, but deGrom's performance needed to be seen to be fully appreciated.

He opened his evening with seven consecutive fastballs. Each of them registered 100-101 mph. Each of them was a strike.

Then he started mixing in his slider and his changeup, all of them effective, all of them thrown with extreme velocity. When he walked off the mound at the end of the seventh, having struck out the side for the second straight inning, deGrom had thrown 92 pitches. Every single one of them registered at least 90 mph.

(He would finally bottom out with an 89 mph slider to Castro in the top of the eighth and another 89 mph slider to Yadiel Hernandez in the ninth.)

"It's all plus stuff," left fielder Kyle Schwarber said afterward on Zoom. "I don't know what to say. It's just all good stuff."

It was as good as it gets from the Mets ace, who became only the third pitcher in major league history to strike out 14 or more batters in three consecutive starts. All while lowering his ERA to 0.31 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 50-to-3.

Oh, and did we mention deGrom also recorded two hits at the plate, the same number he surrendered on the mound?

"You go out there, you give it your best," Martinez said. "I know the guys were trying. He was just good. You just tip your hat some days and come back tomorrow and try to get ready for tomorrow."

Imagine how Erick Fedde felt. Though he'd probably never admit it publicly, the Nationals right-hander knew the challenge staring him in the face when he strolled out to the bullpen in deep right-center field. With the best pitcher on the planet warming up a few feet away in the Mets pen, Fedde knew his margin for error was razor-thin, maybe even nonexistent.

"Maybe think about it a little bit leading up, but once you're out there, it goes away," the right-hander said. "No matter who I'm pitching against, I'm trying to put zeros up every inning. Runs may be a premium on that day, but I still want to keep it a shutout on my end."

And for four innings, at least, Fedde did just that. He may not have blown away hitters the way deGrom did, but he was no less effective. Using his full repertoire of pitches that move down, to the side or in some cases both ways, he induced tons of weak contact. Of the 12 outs he recorded through the fourth, eight came via ground balls.

Fedde got into a jam in the second, with runners on the corners and nobody out, but he deftly worked through the No. 6 and No. 7 spots in the Mets lineup, striking out J.D. Davis with a 3-2 cutter and then getting Jeff McNeil to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.

That same portion of the lineup, though, became Fedde's undoing in the bottom of the fifth. He let a sinker to Davis get away from him and it struck the batter on the leg. And then he lost a nine-pitch battle with McNeil, walking the slumping .159-hitter.

"I put two guys on base for free," Fedde lamented. "That really kind of made me upset."

Up to the plate stepped deGrom, already 4-for-8 on the young season. And wouldn't you know what happened next: The pitcher poked a ball down the left field line for an RBI double to give himself a hard-earned 1-0 lead. And when Brandon Nimmo found a hole on the right side of the infield and delivered a two-out, two-run single, Fedde and the Nationals suddenly were down 3-0.

"That pitch to deGrom (a 93 mph sinker over the plate) was pretty bad," he said. "It's just one I wish I could have back. And if two guys aren't on there, it's (just) a double."

Fedde's night ended shortly after the Nimmo hit. He wound up allowing three runs in five innings, which isn't a great pitching line. Anyone who watched him all night, though, would have a far more favorable opinion of his outing.

And recognize Fedde could've been perfect tonight and it still might not have been enough.

"You've got to tip your hat," Schwarber said of deGrom. "The guy was ... he's really good. And there's no doubt about it."