Candidates of the Cy Young Award – an award given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball – Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets and Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals each conceded four runs at a match between the two teams as each team’s first pitcher. With this result, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers has earned a chance to widen the gap in ERA with the two pitchers at a game on Tuesday.
DeGrom and Scherzer were the first pitchers to step on the mound for each team at a match held on Tuesday at the Nationals Park in Washington. It was Scherzer’s first time to pitch for six innings after having been on the list of injured players for a while due to his back injury and coming back to the field on August 23. However, his performance wasn’t great, conceding five hits, including one home run, and four runs. The Washington Nationals pitcher did not allow any hit until the third inning before he conceded five hits, including a two-run homer to Joe Panik in the fourth inning. DeGrom was doing great until the seventh inning, only allowing two runs. However, he missed a chance to close the eighth inning with one count left to strikeout, conceding a two-run homer to Juan Soto and stepped off the mound with eight hits and four runs for seven innings. The Washington Nationals, which were behind the New York Mets 5-10, scored six points in the ninth inning and earned a dramatic 11-10 win at the end.
Before the Tuesday match, Scherzer’s ERA was 2.46, very close to Ryu’s 2.35. However, the Washington Nationals pitcher’s ERA went up to 2.60 with his performance of four runs conceded in six innings on Tuesday. DeGrom’s ERA also rose from 2.66 to 2.76. If Ryu lowers his ERA below 2.35, the gap between the South Korean pitcher and the other two Cy Young Award candidates will further widen. The South Korean is scheduled to step on the mound as the first pitcher of his team at a home game against the Colorado Rockies, while the Dodgers is a step closer to a win in the Western Division of the National League as it earned its 91st win against the Rockies by a 5-3 score on Tuesday.
yesbro@donga.com