Peterson Struggles in the Mets’ 7-4 Loss

The Mets may be out of contention for the NL East after the Phillies clinched the division on Tuesday; however, coming into Wednesday night’s matchup against the Padres, the race was still on for the NL Wild Card. As of Wednesday evening, the Mets were in third place, but only two games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Mets took game one from San Diego 8-3 and were looking to keep their win streak alive in game two. Looking to do so, they turned to left-handed pitcher David  Peterson (9-5, 3.8 ERA, 149 SO) to take the mound against Padres’ right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta (13-5, 2.77 ERA, 184 SO).

The Mets and Padres went back and forth for the first several innings and throughout the game, both clubs combined for six home runs. But a grand slam by Manny Machado in the fifth was the decision maker of this one as San Diego went on to defeat the Mets 7-4.

The Padres took a quick top-of-the-first lead over the Mets. With two runners in scoring position and out, Gavin Sheets put the Padres on the board first with a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Fernando Tatis from third to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.

However, the Mets responded right back in the bottom half of the inning, as Pete Alonso hit his 36th home run of the season, sending it out to left-center field to tie the game at 1-1.

The Padres retook the lead in the second. After Peterson gave up a second lead-off single, two batters later with a runner on second, Jake Cronenworth hit a line drive RBI single to center field that scored Jackson Merrill, regaining the lead for San Diego 2-1.

Both sides were held scoreless in the third, but with one out in the fourth, Starling Marte evened up the score once again on a solo home run to center field, his ninth of the season to make it 2-2.

That lead didn’t last, however, as things unraveled for Peterson in the fifth. After hitting Cronenworth, two batters later, he walked Tatis Jr. and gave up a single to Luis Arraez to load the bases. And then with the bases loaded, Manny Machado connected off Peterson for a deep grand slam to center field that opened up the Padres’ lead to 6-2 over the Mets through four and a half innings.

After the Padres opened up the game, Juan Soto decreased their lead to three as he drove his 41st home run of the season out to right field on a line drive that made it a 6-3 game. The 41st homer for Soto ties the career-high he set last year.

Peterson’s day was done after five as Carlos Mendoza went to his bullpen, bringing in Dom Hamel to relieve Peterson on the mound for the Mets.

Peterson’s final line: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 3.98 ERA

Hamel was making his MLB debut, becoming the Mets’ record-setting 46th different pitcher to appear this season. The rookie got a bit lucky in the inning when Padres’ catcher Elias Diaz failed to score before Arraez was tagged out trying to stretch a single into a double.

The Padres took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh after Gregory Soto ended up getting the Mets out of trouble in the top half of the inning.

With the Padres up 6-3, Francisco Alvarez cut the lead to two on a solo home run that just hit the top of the right-center field wall. The call was initially not a home run, but the umpires reviewed and overturned the call, declaring it a home run for Alvarez to make it a 6-4 game. Later in the inning, Soto narrowly missed a game-tying home run off a 103 mph fastball from Mason Miller by mere inches.

With Ryne Stanek on the mound in the ninth, the Padres extended their lead to 7-4 off the bat of a solo home run by Ramon Laureano, his 24th of the season and the sixth home run of the game.

The Mets attempted to rally in the ninth, putting two on for Juan Soto, but Soto lined one back to the pitcher, leaving two on to end the inning and give his former team, the Padres, the 7-4 win over the Mets.

NL WILD CARD

With their Wednesday night loss, the Mets remain one and a half games ahead of the Diamondbacks for the third wild card spot as Arizona lost 5-1 on Wednesday to the San Francisco Giants. The Mets are two games ahead of the Reds and Giants.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Though he didn’t have a huge impact in the game, Wednesday’s player of the game is the red-hot Brett Baty, who reached base on three hits in four plate appearances, including the Mets’ only double of the night.

Over the course of the last seven games, Baty is hitting .400, with a .471 on-base percentage, and is slugging .667.

Through the last 30 games, he is batting .333, with a .398 on-base percentage, and slugging .505. He has impressed in the second half of the season and has been a big piece of the Mets’ offense.

ON DECK

The Mets and Padres conclude their three-game series on Thursday in the rubber match of the week. It will be right-handed pitcher Randy Vasquez (5-6, 3.72 ERA, 71 SO) on the mound for San Diego against right-handed pitcher Jonah Tong (1-2, 8.49 ERA, 13 SO) on the mound for the Mets as they need to get back in the win column.

There are now just 10 games left in the season, and every game will continue to be a must-win for the Mets.

The post Peterson Struggles in the Mets’ 7-4 Loss appeared first on Metsmerized Online.