In what likely was the final start of his record-breaking 2018 season, Jacob deGrom threw eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts to lead the New York Mets to a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Braves.

The 30-year-old punched out Ozzie Albies with a 92-mph slider for his 1,000th career strikeout to close out his final regular-season start, and he is the fastest Mets pitcher to get to 1,000 strikeouts. deGrom struck out a total of 10 and allowed just two singles against the NL East champions. He retired the final 20 hitters after allowing a single to Johan Camargo.

deGrom finishes the year with a 10-9 record after picking up a win on Wednesday.

deGrom gave up no more than three runs in his last 29 starts (April 16, 2018 to Sept. 26, 2018) to extend his own single-season record. He also matched the overall mark set by Jake Arrieta in 2015-16.

Now, take a seat and prepare yourself for more mind-blowing stats to follow.

The two-time All-Star finished 2018 having pitched 217 innings and a major league-best 1.70 ERA. Only six pitchers since 1933 have thrown at least 215 innings with a 1.70 ERA or better, and deGrom's 269 strikeouts represent the highest total of the bunch:

  1. Zack Greinke, 200 K, 19-3 in 2015
  2. Dwight Gooden, 268 K, 24-4 in 1985
  3. Luis Tiant, 264 K, 21-9 in 1968
  4. Bob Gibson, 268 K, 22-9 in 1968
  5. Dean Chance, 207 K, 20-9 in 1964
  6. Spud Chandler, 134 K, 20-4 in 1943

And since baseball lowered the mound in 1969, only two pitchers have made at least 30 starts and posted a better ERA than deGrom's 1.70: Dwight Gooden in 1985 (1.53) Zack Greinke in 2015 (1.66).

deGrom's ranks second on the list of lowest ERAs since 1996, the first post-strike season of 162 games:

  1. 2015 Greinke 1.66
  2. 2018 deGrom 1.70
  3. 2000 Pedro 1.74
  4. 2015 Arrieta 1.77
  5. 2014 Kershaw 1.77
  6. 2013 Kershaw 1.83
  7. 2005 Clemens 1.87
  8. 1996 Brown 1.89
  9. 2018 Snell 1.90
  10. 1997 Pedro 1.90

After tonight's closing statement from deGrom, it seems as if he's set to take the NL Cy Young crown.