Christian Scott delivered one of his strongest performances of the season in Sunday's Subway Series finale, but it wasn't enough to secure a victory for the New York Mets.
Two pitches became the deciding factor for Scott on Sunday: a leadoff home run by Ben Rice in the first inning and a solo shot by Austin Wells in the third. These two blasts accounted for all three hits and the only runs allowed by Scott over six innings. He struck out seven batters in the 2-0 loss at Yankee Stadium.
Scott's outing was overshadowed by Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler, who allowed only one hit and struck out eight over six scoreless innings. Despite the loss, Scott expressed confidence in his ability to perform on a big stage.
"That I can compete anywhere against anybody," Scott said when asked about his takeaway from the game. "Cam threw a great game today. When you give up solo home runs and he gives up no runs through six, it’s tough to beat him. But I feel that I can go out and compete against anybody and put my stuff against anybody’s."
The Mets' rotation has seen promising performances from young pitchers in recent days. The day before Scott's start, rookie Zac Thornton allowed two earned runs over seven innings in the Mets' sole win of the series.
Interim manager Andy Green acknowledged the quality starts from Scott and Thornton. "It’s good to see them do it here," Green said. "I don’t think there is a one of us that knows those two guys that would have doubted they would do it here. Pitchers have bad games. But this park was not going to rattle either of those guys. I don’t see playoff atmospheres rattling those guys. I don’t see anything really getting in their way from being what they can be."
Scott's start extended his franchise record to 31 consecutive starts allowing four earned runs or fewer, a streak that began his major league career. This season, he has pitched to a 3.76 earned run average in 22 starts. Scott, who missed last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, stated, "I’m grateful to be here. But at the same time, I feel I can help this team win a lot of games."
He also highlighted improvements in his pitching repertoire. "I feel I have been able to locate my off-speed pitches a lot," Scott said. "I have the cutter, and I am able to throw the changeup more, just rounding out my repertoire and the weapons that I have, but overall I just feel like I have been attacking the strike zone a little bit better than earlier in the year. Just keep that pace up and take it into next year."
