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When a string of injuries to various body parts began during the middle of last season, Jacob deGrom was put on the shelf as the best pitcher in baseball. Now that he has returned, deGrom is making it clear that title still belongs to him.

DeGrom threw six scoreless innings, in which he faced 20 hitters and retired 18, 10 by strikeout, in the Mets’ 1-0 win over the Phillies in front of a sellout crowd of 43,857, the biggest of the season and the ninth largest regular-season crowd in Citi Field history.

Phillies batters swung at 44 of deGrom’s 76 pitches. They connected for two singles — one in the first inning by Rhys Hoskins and one in the sixth by Bryson Stott — and missed 19 times.

The Mets scored in the first inning thanks to Starling Marte’s legs. Marte singled, stole second and took third base when the throw escaped into center field. Pete Alonso came through again with a single off Aaron Nola for his league-leading 97th RBI.

“The value of one run in the big leagues is tremendous — especially  when Jake’s on the mound,” said Alonso, whose average is up to .281. “You know you have a pretty good shot to win the ballgame.”

DeGrom had his run, and he and the Mets’ bullpen made it stand up.

After a miserable few days in St. Louis, the Yankees got back to winning, snapping their season-high five-game losing streak with a 9-4 win over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. 

But it came with a cost, as Matt Carpenter suffered a fractured left foot in the first inning and could be lost for the season. 

Against Seattle, they had enough to overcome Carpenter’s absence, as Josh Donaldson had four hits — including a two-run single in the first and a solo homer in the third — and Aaron Judge crushed his 44th homer of the season. 

Jameson Taillon continued his pattern of being good every other start, as he gave up three runs in seven innings. 

It came after the team was swept by the Cardinals, with their new top-of-the-rotation pitcher, Frankie Montas, getting hit hard on Sunday and their lead in the AL East had dropped into single digits for the first time since June 15. 

Strong starting pitching from David Peterson and Max Scherzer, plus standout offensive performances by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, fueled the Mets to a doubleheader sweep of the Braves on a steamy Saturday at Citi Field, clinching the pivotal series victory.

After Lindor and Peterson led the way to an 8-5 win in Game 1, Scherzer dominated in the nightcap, with Alonso driving the offense in a 6-2 victory.

With the sweep, the Mets (69-39) took three of the first four games of the series and pushed their lead atop the NL East to 5 ½ games over the Braves (64-45). That marks their largest lead since June 21, and they have a chance to put an exclamation point on the series on Sunday.

“This is what you play the game for,” said Scherzer, who struck out 11 over seven shutout innings on a season-high 108 pitches. “You play to face the best. Especially deep in the season, you grind it out here in the NL East. You face so many tough opponents that you want to go out there and match it and beat them. So it’s rewarding when that happens.”

Beloved Major League Baseball broadcaster Vin Scully, known best for his record-setting 67 seasons with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, has died at the age of 94, the Dodgers announced.

“We have lost an icon,” said Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten. “The Dodgers’ Vin Scully was one of the greatest voices in all of sports. He was a giant of a man, not only as a broadcaster, but as a humanitarian. He loved people. He loved life. He loved baseball and the Dodgers.

“And he loved his family. His voice will always be heard and etched in all of our minds forever. I know he was looking forward to joining the love of his life, Sandi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this very difficult time. Vin will be truly missed.”

Scully was hired by the then-Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 and continued to work for the team until 2016, which set the record for the longest broadcasting tenure with a single team in professional sports history and was second only to longtime Dodgers manager and executive Tommy Lasorda‘s 69 seasons for the most with the Dodgers organization in any capacity.

The Bronx native was also the voice of 25 World Series, 20 no-hitters and 12 All-Star Games during his legendary career, having also contributed to CBS Sports (1975-82) and NBC Sports‘ (1983-1989) for MLB, NFL football and PGA Tour golf coverage.

Scully provided the voice to many of baseball’s most memorable moments including Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 715th career home run, Kirk Gibson’s game-winning home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series and the New York Mets’ comeback against the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Aaron Donald was linked to retirement rumors and speculation mounted that Sean McVay would jump to TV, but the Super Bowl-winning duo is returning to the Rams for another year. And one would not be there without the other.

“Not at all,” the Rams defensive tackle recently told NFL Network. “Not at all. If Sean ain’t here — I told Sean when he first got here. We came up with some things early and I first told him as long as he’s the head coach here, I want to continue to build my legacy with him. 

“As long as he’s here and I got the ability to still play at a high level, I’m going to be here. When he’s gone and it’s all said and done, that probably will be when I’m hanging it up, too.”

Donald, who had 12.5 sacks last season, is certainly nowhere near falling off, and he’s expected to have another big year with the defending champion Rams.

“It’s always going to be motivation to do everything you can to get back,” the 31-year-old Donald said. “That’s the ultimate goal. That’s what you work for. When you’re grinding and out here working right now, that’s in the back of your mind. To try to do everything you can to have a great season and try to be the last team standing.”

The long-awaited statue of pitcher Tom Seaver was unveiled by the New York Mets in a 40-minute ceremony at Citi Field.

With thousands of fans gathered around, cell phones held high and craning their necks to see, the late Hall of Famer’s wife and two daughters were front and center for the festivities.

Following an introduction from longtime Mets radio announcer Howie Rose and speeches by owner Steve Cohen and former slugger Mike Piazza, the blue curtain was pulled away to reveal a striking monument that stands 10 feet tall and 13 1/2 feet long. It depicts Seaver in the middle of his classic drop-and-drive delivery, baseball in his right hand.

“Hello, Tom,” said his emotional widow Nancy, choking back tears. “It’s so nice to have you here where you belong.”

The sculpture is by William Behrends, who also designed and created statues of Willie Mays in San Francisco and Tony Gwynn in San Diego.

The Mets, with a 9-5 victory over the Nationals, extended their NL East lead on the Braves to 3 ½ games. The Mets, who won five of six games on the road trip, have picked up a game on the Braves since the finale of their series in Atlanta. The Mets’ lead over the Braves on May 30 was 10 games.

“When you look at the schedule and everything, you hope you’re in it,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told Atlanta reporters. “Shoot, after you play 100-and-whatever games, this is where you want to be. You want to be in this position, where these games are big.”

The next five games won’t decide anything, but the Mets still have two trips to Atlanta remaining (including one within the final week of the season) that combined with these five could carry significant weight in determining who wins the division and who is reduced to playing in the wild-card round. The two division winners in each league with the best records will receive a bye in that first round.

The Mets received a loud hit from Daniel Vogelbach and strong pitching performance from Chris Bassitt in handling the gutted Nationals in their second game since they traded Juan Soto and Josh Bell to San Diego.

Vogelbach’s first homer in a Mets uniform — a grand slam in the fifth — broke the game open, burying the Nationals in a 6-0 hole. The lefty-hitting Vogelbach entered the day with a .483 on-base percentage in eight games since arriving in a trade with Pittsburgh for reliever Colin Holderman.

The day started with standouts from the past gathered in Monument Park, but as usual, the real star on Saturday afternoon was Aaron Judge, who powered the Yankees to their third straight win over the horrid Royals, 8-2, in The Bronx.

It was just another day for the slugger, who continued his record-setting pace with his MLB-leading 42nd homer of the season — and 200th of his career.

Only Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard reached the 200-homer milestone faster, getting there in 658 games, compared to Judge’s 671.

Asked the importance of the milestone, Judge said, “just so I can get past it. I feel like big numbers are tough to get past.”

The homer Saturday, Judge’s ninth in nine games, was a two-run laser to right off right-hander Jonathan Heasley, who, like the rest of the Royals, was overmatched.

It also put him on pace for 67 homers, which would break the franchise and American League mark of 61, set by Roger Maris in 1961.

Carlos Carrasco isn’t going to win any contests blowing away hitters, but the right-hander’s offspeed pitches and command — and most importantly, his health — have converged this season to give the Mets an invaluable rotation piece.

On Saturday he gave his team 7 shutout innings in a 4-0 victory over the Marlins. Carrasco extended his scoreless streak over his past three starts to 18 innings.

The win was No. 100 in Carrasco’s career, making the 35-year-old the eighth Venezuelan-born pitcher to reach the milestone. Carrasco last surrendered a run on July 9 against the Marlins at Citi Field.

“I have been doing this a long time and getting 100 wins means a lot,” said Carrasco, who is 100-82 over 13 major league seasons. “Even more of it, getting it with a special group like this, going out there every day to play hard for us. I couldn’t do it without them.”

Jeff McNeil homered in the third, and the team gave Carrasco breathing room in the eighth when Francisco Lindor and J.D. Davis each blasted a solo homer to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.

The Mets won their fifth straight and improved to 63-37, their most victories at the 100-game mark since 1986.