Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
David Peterson’s 2021 season has gotten off to an inconsistent start. After surprising many with the success he had in 2020, Peterson has had mixed results in 2021. The Arizona Diamondbacks presented the biggest challenge of the young season for Peterson, as they came into the weekend series at Citi Field leading the league in both slugging percentage and OPS vs. left-handed pitchers.
While the Diamondbacks didn’t do any damage in the first, they certainly made Peterson work to get through the inning. Tim Locastro led off the game with a lineout to left field. After a strike out of Carson Kelly, Christian Walker hit a ground ball that snuck through the right side of the infield for a single. Peterson retired the side on a fly out to centerfield from Eduardo Escobar, but the Diamondbacks made Peterson throw 21 pitches to work through a scoreless inning.
The game fell apart for Peterson in the second inning. Peterson looked to be in control through the first three batters in the inning. He struck out former Met Asdrubal Cabrera to start the inning, and after a seeing-eye single through the shift from Pavin Smith, he struck out Nick Ahmed. With two outs, Josh Rojas ripped a single to right field to put two runners on for Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen. Gallen drew a walk on a close 3-2 pitch, and Peterson was never able to recover. Peterson looked visibly upset by the walk, and hit Locastro with his next pitch to give Arizona a 1-0 lead. Kelly and Walker followed with two more bases loaded walks to put an end to Peterson’s night after only 1 2/3 innings. Robert Gsellman came into the game and stranded the bases loaded to close the book on Peterson’s night.
Peterson finished the night allowing three runs on three hits and three walks while striking out three.
Although the Diamondbacks’ offense has been one of the best in baseball against left-handed pitching in 2021, Peterson was unable to give himself a chance on Friday night. Before losing the strike zone, Peterson did not allow much hard contact. Josh Rojas’ two-out single was the only ball hard hit ball that Peterson allowed according to MLB’s Statcast. After losing Gallen to a walk, it looked as if Peterson wasn’t able to move past it.
“It got away from me,” Peterson said. “The walks never help, but to do it the way I did tonight was unacceptable.”
Fortunately for Peterson and the Mets, the bullpen did a terrific job of limiting the damage and giving the team a chance to come back. After stranding the bases loaded in the second inning, Gsellman allowed a run in the third inning and pitched a scoreless fourth inning. Tommy Hunter followed with two scoreless innings, and Jacob Barnes, Miguel Castro and Edwin Diaz each followed with scoreless innings of their own. In the tenth, Aaron Loup threw a perfect inning and did not allow the runner on second to advance. The bullpen finished combining to throw 8 1/3 innings allowing just one run on seven hits and two walks while striking out five.
“Every guy in that locker room has each other’s back,” Peterson said. “For the bullpen to do what they did to pick me up, and the offense to come back and do what they did, I can’t be more proud of every guy in that locker room.”
On a night that included the biggest hit of Francisco Lindor’s Mets career, a walk-off from Patrick Mazeika, and a rat (or raccoon or possum depending on who you ask) in the dugout tunnel, it can be easy to overlook the work the bullpen did to make the comeback win possible. The bullpen has been lights out this season by all metrics. Their 3.35 ERA ranks eighth in baseball, and their 2.67 FIP is the best in baseball. The struggling offense has been the biggest story of the Mets’ season thus far, but the bullpen’s strong start has given them a chance to keep up in the NL East race with no teams taking an early lead.
