deGrom, Yoenis lead Mets; Tigers rally late

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Jacob deGrom's stellar spring continued with another four shutout innings Thursday, the opening salvo of a 5-5 Mets tie with the Tigers at First Data Field.
His velocity reaching into the mid-90s, deGrom struck out four over four innings, allowing two hits and no walks. Coming off September surgery to relocate a nerve in his throwing elbow, deGrom has not allowed a run or a walk in six Grapefruit League innings, striking out seven.

"I was really pleased with being able to locate all four pitches today," deGrom said. "My last one, I threw a couple changeups in the dirt. I don't think I threw one for a strike my first outing. And I think today, I was able to throw that changeup where I wanted, pretty much when I wanted to."
The Mets received an early dose of offense from Yoenis Céspedes, who clubbed his third home run of the spring off Tigers starter Aníbal Sánchez. Prospect Champ Stuart also homered off Sanchez, who allowed four runs on six hits in three innings.

But the Tigers, who trailed for nearly the entire game, tied things on a Grayson Greiner RBI double off Chasen Bradford in the eighth. Detroit fought back throughout the later innings, also plating runs on a Nick Castellanos RBI double in the sixth, a Dominic Ficociello homer in the seventh and a run-scoring wild pitch later that inning by Mets reliever Erik Goeddel.

JaCoby Jones, Detroit's No. 9 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, put the Tigers ahead for the first time in the ninth with a leadoff homer off Paul Sewald, but John Mora tied things again with a run-scoring triple in the bottom of the inning.

Tigers Up Next: Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann will make his third start Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET when the Tigers host the Blue Jays in Lakeland on Gameday Audio. His counterpart will be right-hander Mike Bolsinger. Injured shortstop José Iglesias could return to Detroit's lineup after bruising his neck against Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Mets Up Next:Zack Wheeler will climb atop a big league mound for the first time in more than two years when he starts the Mets' 1:05 p.m. game Friday against Lucas Sims and the Braves at Disney World. The home half of the Mets' split-squad should be just as eventful, with Matt Harvey pitching and Tim Tebow starting in the outfield in a 1:10 p.m. game against the Astros. Both games are on Gameday Audio.
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