Brutal Fourth Inning Derails Peterson

The fourth inning might be cursed for the Mets at this point. For what feels like the hundredth time this season, Wednesday’s fourth frame turned into a nightmare for the Mets, as David Peterson, the rotation’s workhorse and the most reliable arm left standing, suddenly unraveled.

The game had started on a high note, as the Mets entered the fourth inning with a comfortable 6-0 lead, Peterson having navigated his first three frames with grit. He had danced around danger in the third, loading the bases with two outs before inducing an Ozzie Albies groundout to escape the jam. 

But when the fourth inning arrived, everything fell apart. Peterson faced seven batters in the inning. He allowed two hits and issued four walks, managing just one out before Jurickson Profar ripped a bases-clearing double to slice the Mets’ lead to just two runs. 

That was the end of the line for Peterson, but not for the Braves’ rally. The bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding, and Atlanta piled on five more before the inning was over, including a grand slam by Michael Harris II, turning a comfortable Mets lead into a shocking 9-6 deficit. It marked the first time in Mets history that the team had blown a lead of four or more runs in three straight games.

Six of those nine fourth-inning runs were charged to Peterson. His five strikeouts were buried beneath six hits, five walks, and an ERA that swelled up to 3.30. It was an ugly, ill-timed start for a pitcher the Mets have leaned on heavily all year. The Mets would go on to lose 11-6.

“It’s frustrating,” Peterson said after the game. “We’re not holding up our end and we need to do better.”

So far, Peterson has been the one dependable piece in an otherwise inconsistent rotation, the guy capable of consistently giving six or more innings when no one else could. 

That reliability is why this stumble, especially in such a pivotal game, stings so much. However, while it may be time to panic about the overall team, panicking about David Peterson individually can hold off. 

The lefty still holds a pitching run value in the 87th percentile league-wide. While his xERA sits slightly higher than his actual ERA, his ground ball rate makes up for the expected contact: Peterson’s 55.4% grounder rate sits in the top seven percent across the majors. However, this was a misstep the team couldn’t really afford.

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