PETERSON DELIVERS
Oh baby! Expectant dad gets job done again as Mets stop Marlins
David Peterson won his race against the stork Monday, but his victory tour wasn’t finished.
With team officials on high alert the left-hander might have to depart as his wife, Alex, prepared to deliver a son, Peterson zigged and zagged, helping the Mets beat the Marlins 6-0 at Citi Field.
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Peterson has been indispensable as the Mets have survived rotation hits to Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tylor Megill. On this day, he pitched 5 ¹/3 shutout innings and allowed six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
The Mets (45-24) finished with five victories in seven games on the homestand and improved to 16-3-2 in series this season. The shutout was the 11th this season by the Mets.
This one came with a health concern, as Jeff McNeil departed with tightness in his right hamstring in the top of the fifth, after racing home from third on a wild pitch the previous inning. McNeil was to undergo testing on the hamstring, and manager Buck Showalter indicated he will be evaluated on a daily basis.
Peterson rebounded from his worst start of the season. In his previous appearance, he got knocked out by the Brewers after allowing four earned runs over four innings.
“I felt like I got into a spot where my delivery felt very consistent again,” Peterson said. “That was one of the biggest things, just feeling consistent with every pitch and delivery and going after guys.”
As for the upcoming birth of his son, Peterson (who plans to return home to Denver for the arrival) said he was unfazed as Monday’s start approached.
“I have my phone in the training room during the game in case something happens, but once I got here today, it was all about the start,” Peterson said.
Adam Ottavino, Drew Smith and Yoan Lopez combined for 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief, helping to redeem the bullpen a day after Seth Lugo surrendered a grand slam to Jerar Encarnacion in the Mets’ only loss in the series.
The Marlins put two runners on base in five of the six innings they faced Peterson, but the lefty escaped each time. In the sixth that came with Ottavino’s help, as the right-hander entered and got Encarnacion to hit into an inning-ending double play. It left Peterson with a 3.18 ERA in 10 appearances for the Mets this season.
“He’s pitched so well in spots,” Brandon Nimmo said. “Today it was from start to finish. I’m really happy for him.”
In the second inning, Peterson struck out Bryan De La Cruz and Luke Williams in succession to strand two runners. In the fifth, he got Jorge Soler to hit into an inning-ending double play.
“I was real proud of the outing [Peterson] had, that was probably the key to the game,” Showalter said. “He was in attack mode with command. He had all his pitches available to him and
you could tell he was in a good, aggressive attack mode.”
The Mets loaded the bases to start the game, but managed only one run, on Mark Canha’s walk. Nimmo doubled leading off before Starling Marte reached on Jon Berti’s fielding error and Francisco Lindor’s broken-bat infield single loaded the bases.
McNeil’s double fueled a tworun fourth inning aided by the Mets’ aggressiveness on the bases. With runners on second and third, Eduardo Escobar hit a fly to medium left. J.D. Davis tagged up at third and narrowly beat the throw home. McNeil scored as Trevor Rogers bounced a pitch just beyond catcher Jacob Stallings’ reach.
The Mets extended their lead to 4-0 in the fifth. Nimmo and Marte singled in succession to begin the frame before Pete Alonso hit a sacrifice fly for his MLB-leading 64th RBI of the season.
Escobar’s two-run single in the eighth — which snapped an 0-for-23 drought — completed the scoring. Davis was hit by a pitch to begin the rally and Luis Guillorme singled.
“I was real proud of the way we played baseball today,” Showalter said. “We just cashed in the opportunities we had and took what was there.”