The New York Mets’ 5-4 loss against the Washington Nationals on Thursday was another example of a game the club had absolutely no business losing. It became another instance of them wasting one of the few things they can rely on in Freddy Peralta.
Peralta looked exactly like the top-of-the-rotation arm the front office thought they were getting. He worked six innings, throwing 90 pitches while controlling counts well. His start contrasted majorly to all of the instability around him, particularly in comparison to the Mets’ pitching struggles from the day before.
The afternoon began with an immediate test, as he allowed a walk to Nationals lead-off hitter James Wood. Peralta responded by striking out Luis García Jr. and CJ Abrams to end the inning. Trouble found him again in the second inning when his own throwing error allowed Jorbit Vivas to score before an RBI single by Jacob Young doubled the deficit. He eventually escaped the inning by striking out Wood swinging, leaving two runners stranded and limiting the early damage.
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After allowing a third run on an Abrams single in the third, Peralta induced a double play from José Tena to keep the game within reach for the offense. He then got into a rhythm, carving through the Nationals in order during the fourth and fifth frames while recording multiple strikeouts. His final act came in the sixth when he worked around two walks by inducing a pop-up to end the threat and protect a slim lead.
The standout weapon of Peralta’s afternoon was his curveball. Fifteen of them produced five of his 12 whiffs, giving him a nice finish pitch once he got ahead in the count. Peralta has been one of the few pitchers keeping this rotation from drifting into complete chaos, pitching well while receiving the bare minimum in run support.
The offense briefly appeared to have Peralta’s back when MJ Melendez launched a three-run homer in the third to erase the early deficit. Mark Vientos later drove a double to center in the sixth, giving Peralta a 4-3 lead just before he exited the game. A functioning team would have used that offensive support to shut the door and build some much-needed momentum.
That lead disappeared quickly, as the Mets’ bullpen turned the game into another late-inning collapse. Luke Weaver entered in the eighth and immediately surrendered a two-run home run to Abrams, giving Washington the lead back. This inability to protect a lead has become a defining trait of a team that seems to only fail in high-leverage moments.
There was still a small glimpse of hope in the ninth. Francisco Alvarez doubled with two outs to bring the tying run into scoring position, but Mauricio’s strikeout ended the game. The Mets have now dropped 17 of their last 20 games and officially hold the worst record in the major leagues.
Carlos Mendoza didn’t hold back after the 3-6 homestand, saying, “Not good enough, obviously. Not a secret. That’s not going to do it. You’ve got to start winning series, period.”
Now one of the questions is whether the Mets decide to move on from Mendoza. On Wednesday, MMO’s Robert Colonna looked at the impact of firing a manager mid-season.
Peralta did not say much more than he needed to.
“Just have to keep grinding…There’s a lot of games left to win, we just have to keep focusing and keep going.”
He’s done his part, posting a 3.52 ERA over 38 innings in seven starts this season. But games like this show that sometimes it’s still not enough.
For now, the Mets continue to show that even a few hot players can’t carry a team that is simply unable to perform in key moments.
