Mets’ Jacob deGrom exits Sunday’s start early after returning from lat injury

Jacob deGrom returned to the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday after missing his previous start, but he couldn’t finish before an issue popped.

While throwing warmups prior to the top of the sixth inning, deGrom tossed a pair of pitches before flagging the trainer. After a brief discussion with the trainer and manager Luis Rojas, deGrom exited the game.

DeGrom was scratched from his start last Tuesday due to soreness in his right side, which was later diagnosed as inflammation of his right lat. He resumed light throwing on Thursday before completing a bullpen session on Friday, which was the final hurdle for him to pitch on Sunday.

The Mets announced deGrom was pulled for precautionary reasons due to tightness in his right side.

Everything appeared to be fine in the early innings, where deGrom looked like his usual dominant self. He didn’t allow a base runner over the first four innings.

He did run into some trouble in the top of the fifth inning, when he loaded the bases with no outs. The Diamondbacks scored one run on a double play, but deGrom escaped further trouble to preserve a 2-1 lead. DeGrom walked three batters and allowed one double during that frame.

He finished with 68 pitches over five innings, where he allowed one run on one hit while striking out six and walking three. His fastball sat in the high 90s throughout the start.

DeGrom also helped spark a two-run third inning for the Mets. After James McCann led off the inning with a single, deGrom reached on a bunt single down the third-base line. A throwing error allowed McCann to advance to third.

After deGrom advanced to second on a groundout by Jeff McNeil to the catcher, Francisco Lindor scored McCann with a sacrifice fly. Michael Conforto then singled to left field, scoring deGrom from third after he advanced to third on Lindor’s fly ball.

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