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| - Jacob deGrom struck out a career high 15 batters for a two-hit shutout as the New York Mets snapped a three game losing skid with a 6-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday. The Mets pitching ace retired the final 19 batters after allowing a second inning single to Starlin Castro and a third inning double to Andrew Stevenson. DeGrom, who is a two-time Cy Young winner as the best pitcher in the National League, now has 50 strikeouts on the season. He is the first MLB pitcher in history to reach 50 strikeouts in his first four games of the season. He also became only the third pitcher in MLB history to fan at least 14 batters in three straight starts. Pedro Martinez did so from September 1999 and Gerrit Cole did it from August through September 2019. "We will be telling our grandkids about this man," said teammate Marcus Stroman. No pitcher has ever struck out at least 14 batters in four straight starts. DeGrom's next turn in the rotation is scheduled for Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox. DeGrom also chipped in on offence, hitting a double to drive in the first run of the contest. Elsewhere, Fernando Tatis Jr. followed in his father's footsteps and Yu Darvish won the battle of the pitching aces as the San Diego Padres trounced the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 at Dodger Stadium. Tatis Jr. belted two home runs and it came 22 years to the day that his father, Fernando Tatis Sr., hit two grand slams in the same inning at Dodger Stadium while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. Tatis Jr. hit his solo home runs in separate innings against Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who was going up against Japanese star pitcher and former teammate Yu Darvish on Friday night. Darvish won the battle of the all-star pitchers giving up just one run on four hits over seven innings with three walks and nine strikeouts. It was his third consecutive start, two of them against the Dodgers, where he gave up one run over seven innings. Darvish has been strong in all four of his starts this season. Kershaw surrendered three runs on five hits over seven innings with a walk and seven strikeouts, while allowing his first three home runs of the season. Darvish and Kershaw were teammates for three months in 2017 with the Dodgers. The Padres beat the Dodgers for the third consecutive game after losing the first two games of the season series last week. gph/mtp
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