Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

David Peterson fought through multiple innings of having to battle in and out of trouble his best outing since late May Monday afternoon.

In his prior four outings prior, Peterson struggled to go deep into games and did not throw more than 4 2/3 innings in any of the four starts. His best outing of the season was against San Francisco on May 23, when he made it six innings and gave up two runs. Since then, he gave up 10 earned runs in 15 innings.

Peterson was looking to bounce back with a strong performance on Monday, while also having to keep his emotions and anticipation of being an expectant father at bay at the same time. While he had multiple innings where he was forced to work out of jams, Peterson did what he needed to do to produce a quality scoreless outing, leading the Mets to a 6-0 win over the Marlins.

Peterson threw 5 1/3 innings on Monday (the third-most innings he has pitched this season). He allowed six hits, hit one batter and walked two over the course of his outing. He struck out seven, which was a season-high, and more importantly, he did not allow any runs. He threw 100 pitches (60 for strikes) and was credited with the win, improving his record to 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA.

Peterson consistently had to pitch out of jams over the first three innings with two runners reaching in each of those frames. But Peterson fought his way out of each one, correcting mistakes he made along the way to improve his consistency as the game went on. He retired the Marlins in order in the fourth and allowed two runners to reach once again in the fifth inning, using a double play to get himself out of that jam.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

He also allowed to runners to reach in the sixth again before being replaced on the mound by Adam Ottavino after 5 1/3 innings pitched.

Ottavino got Sunday’s hero Jerar Encarnacion to bounce into a double play.

Despite not making it through the full sixth inning, Peterson can be proud of his start. Peterson also has a lot on his personal plate outside of the ballpark as he prepares for the birth of his son.

“Once I’m here, it’s all about the game,” said Peterson. “I have my phone in the training room in case something happens, but once I got here today, it was all about the start.” He also said he didn’t anticipate getting a call today, which helped him remain focused.

When he was asked about keeping the Marlins at bay (and shut out), Peterson stated that he felt consistent with every pitch in his delivery on Monday.

Brandon Nimmo also talked about Peterson’s strong start.

“I was really proud and excited for [Peterson]. He’s pitched so well in spots so today from start to finish I was really really happy for him,” said Nimmo. “He got to the sixth inning and was just cruising, so feel good for him.”

Nimmo also stated that Peterson threw well and was locating his pitches well on Monday afternoon.

“His stuff is really nasty, I get the pleasure to watch that from center field,” said Nimmo, who also praised Peterson for learning from his mistakes.

Peterson’s next scheduled start would likely come next weekend against the Marlins, but with a baby on the way, he’ll gladly push his next start back a couple of days.