David Peterson Bounces Back with Strong Start vs Rays

David Peterson’s last start against the Diamondbacks was the worst start of his young MLB career. He allowed three runs on three hits and three walks before being pulled with just two outs in the second inning. The Mets needed a bounceback start going against Tyler Glasnow and the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, and Peterson gave them just that.

Peterson did not have much trouble in the first inning. Randy Arozarena led off the inning with a ground out to second baseman Jose Peraza. Manuel Margot followed with a single up the middle, but was caught stealing for the second out. Peterson then struck out Austin Meadows looking at a fastball to get through the inning facing the minimum.

The second inning started to look similar to the second inning of Peterson’s last start. Yandy Diaz hit a double down the third base line to begin the inning. After striking out Mike Brosseau, Peterson walked Willy Adames and Mike Zunino to load the bases and put himself in early trouble for the second straight start.  Kevin Padlo hit a pop up in foul territory that would have scored the game’s first run, but the ball popped out of Pete Alonso’s glove, making it a foul ball. Peterson struck out Padlo and Brett Phillips to strand the bases loaded.

The defense shined behind Peterson in the third. Jonathan Villar made a diving stop on a hard hit ball from Arozarena, and Alonso scooped his throw in the dirt to get the first out of the inning. Francicso Lindor followed by catching a line drive from Margot. Kevin Pillar recorded the final out by running down a fly ball in left-center. Peterson retired the side on just five pitches.

The fourth is where Peterson really hit his stride. He struck out Diaz on three straight fastballs to start the inning, and followed by retiring Brosseau on a ground out to Villar and Adames on an over the shoulder running catch by Jose Peraza for another one-two-three inning.

Peterson continued to cruise in the fifth inning after the offense broke through off Glasnow for two runs. Zunino began the inning by popping out to Villar. Padlo and Phillips both struck out on fastballs to give Peterson another clean inning.

Facing the top of the order in the sixth was no problem for Peterson as he retired the side in order again. Arozarena popped out to Lindor before Margot and Meadows grounded out.

Peterson pitched into the seventh inning for the first time this season, and he continued to dominate. A Diaz popout, Brosseau strikeout and Adames groundout brought Peterson’s streak of Rays retired to 17 in a row.

For the first time in his career, Peterson went out for the eighth inning. Unfortunately for him and the Mets, he was unable to reward his manager’s confidence in him. After missing badly with the first two pitches of the at-bat, Peterson left a ball over the middle of the plate for Zunino, who did not miss it. Zunino hit a no-doubt home run to the second deck in left field to cut the Mets’ lead to 2-1.

Peterson stayed in to face Padlo, who hit a double to right-center field to put the tying run on second base with still nobody out. Peterson struck out Phillips to get the first out of the inning before yielding to Trevor May to finish the inning. After retiring Arozarena, May allowed the game-tying hit to Margot to close the book on Peterson’s night.

Peterson finished with 7 1/3 innings pitched, allowing just two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out nine Rays.

After the game, Luis Rojas said he intended to let Peterson pitch to the bottom third of the order in the eighth due to the success Peterson had against them and have May come in to face Arozarena, which is why Peterson was left in after the leadoff home run. Padlo had been 0-for-2 with two strikeouts to that point.

“We thought he had a good mix for him,” Rojas said.

Being faced with a similar situation as his last start, Peterson was able to avoid losing control again and turned in a terrific outing. When asked what led to him going on his run of retiring 17 consecutive batters, Peterson pointed to that second inning jam.

“Being able to get out of that inning was a huge confidence boost,” Peterson said. “Then being able to take the rest of the game one pitch at a time.”

While the ending didn’t go as planned, the Mets have to be thrilled with the bounce-back performance that Peterson had on Friday night in St. Petersburg. After the worst start of his career, Peterson bounced back with the best start of his career and gave the team a chance against one of the game’s best pitchers in Glasnow. Consistency has been an issue for Peterson in 2021, but if he can have more outings like this, it won’t be so easy to remove him from the rotation when everyone is healthy.