Mets pitchers going down with injury has seemingly become a daily occurrence and it happened again Thursday.
Paul Blackburn, Friday's probable starter, and reliever Dedniel Nunez were put on the IL before the Mets' series finale against the Brewers. So saying the team needed David Peterson to give them a quality start in the worst way is not hyperbole. But luckily for the Mets, their southpaw gave them exactly what they needed.
Peterson allowed just two runs (one earned) over 6.2 innings on Thursday night in the Mets' 3-2 win. It was the first time a Mets starter pitched six innings since June 17 (14 games) when he did it.
"It’s huge. We haven’t been able to get that consistently," manager Carlos Mendoza said of Peterson's night. "Petey, other than the last two, you know he’s going to get you through six and go back out for the seventh. I remember the outing in Atlanta, he went back out to the eighth and was only at 82 pitches. Especially when he’s getting ahead and weak contact early in the game, allows him to get to those later innings.
"Especially on a day like today, everybody in the ballpark knew how thin we were back there, for him to go back out there but to not only go deep but giving us a quality outing and allowing us to win a series is huge."
In his last two starts, Peterson was anything but reliable for the Mets. He allowed five runs in both starts and could not get out of the fifth. After the second start, the left-hander attributed his issues to a mechanical problem, which he seemingly fixed before Thursday's game.
"We worked on some things this week and was able to get back on line with my mechanics," Peterson explained. "Felt like I was getting down through the ball well and seeing what I wanted to see after the adjustments."
Peterson said his "direction" was out of whack, and he was able to straighten up in his delivery. Those adjustments resulted in a much-needed start and win for the Mets, who look to put their terrible June behind them — they went 12-15 in the month but had won just one series in three weeks.
With the starting rotation going through so many changes due to injury, Peterson will be depended on more and more until they get healthy — Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga are seemingly close to returning — but the 29-year-old isn't dwelling on the fact the team are losing arms. He's focused on what he can control, and that's what he does on the mound.
"Every team's going through it. We've kind of been battling it right now and it sucks. We wish those guys the best," Peterson said. "At the same time, we have a job to do. Being able to go as deep as I can and pass it off to [Ryne] Stanek and [Edwin] Diaz was a good night."
In relief of Peterson, Stanek retired a season-high four batters — including striking out the side in the eighth inning — and Diaz struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning to complete the strong pitching performance for the Mets.
"He threw a really, really good game. I'm really happy for him," Diaz said of Peterson's performance. "He’s dealing all year. Doing such an amazing job."
And the Mets will need Peterson to keep dealing as they welcome the Yankees for the upcoming weekend series, and beyond until reinforcements can arrive.
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