Hot dang: Rafael Montero: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 14 K, 1 HR. Yeah, 0 walks, and 14 K. The 14 whiffs are a new career-high and the second time in the last three games he has punched out 10 or more. In his last three starts, he has 28 strikeouts against ZERO walks in 17.2 innings. The 21-year old is real. He was sitting at 92 mph for Savannah early this year and could reach back for 94 with a changeup, which had some deception as his second pitch. Scouts thought his slider had a chance to get to average, which would make him a candidate for the middle of a major league rotation.

Now, to one of the most pleasant surprises in the Mets’ system in 2012: Jacob deGrom. The righthander was throwing hard, again. The ‘Hoppers squared up a pair of fastballs early to score a run in the first against deGrom on two doubles and then did very little against him for the next six innings. His line: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Remarkably, the two walks tied his season-high.

Like Domingo Tapia, deGrom has been throwing his four-seamer much more than his sinker in his recent outings. The lean 24-year old is .1 of an inning shy of qualifying for the SAL leaderboard, which is a shame, because his 2.37 ERA would lead the circuit. His velocity has been regularly up to the mid-90s in recent starts. Tuesday, as the night went on, he threw his slider more. At one point, with the bases loaded, and out in the third, he threw FIVE straight breaking balls. He wound up putting the batter away with a fastball up.