How Low Can You Go?

One of my WFAN colleagues ought to craft a song parody based on Chubby Checker's 1960s classic "Limbo Rock." You know that cute dance tune with the chant, "How low can you go?"

While the line originally described people contorting themselves while wiggling under a horizontal bar in a novelty dance game, the words certainly resonate with Mets ace Jacob deGrom. Those five one-hit, shutout innings in the opener of Monday night's doubleheader against the Braves dropped his ERA to 0.50. They also extended his scoreless streak to 30 consecutive innings -- which could put him more than halfway to Orel Hershiser's 1988 record of 59.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner also moved past Bob Gibson with his 12th consecutive start allowing one or no earned runs, the longest such single-season streak ever by a starting pitcher.

No hanky panky was needed -- with the Mets playing a twi-night doubleheader and no daytime games on Monday's schedule, deGrom made more history when, after working the top of the 1st inning, he was checked to be sure he wasn't packing some sticky substance on his body. He passed that test, as he has checked off all the other boxes so far in building the most remarkable season by a starting pitcher in more than half a century!

(My image of deGrom is from the Mets/Padres game on June 11th at Citi Field.)

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