Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
This is starting to get beyond a joke for the New York Mets as David Peterson was the latest player to get hurt by the injury curse.
Wednesday night can be filed under the ‘very bad night at the office’ category as the Mets were blown out in an ugly 20-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. To add further insult to injury, left-hander was forced to leave the game in the fourth inning due to injury.
These Mets have taken crushing blow after crushing blow to the chin this season but, so far anyway, they have managed to stay upright and survive the eight count, remaining two games ahead in the NL East with a 41-35 record.
However, there’s only so many punches you can take until you get knocked out and now 4-6 in their last 10, the Mets will be praying that Peterson’s injury isn’t anything too serious given that their rotation depth is already razor thin at best.
On the same day it was announced that Dellin Betances would undergo season-ending shoulder surgery after pitching just one game this season, the last thing this team needed was to lose another pitcher, but Peterson departing the mound with a trainer at his side was an all-too familiar and sad sight this year.
He left the ballpark to undergo testing on his right side but Mets manager Luis Rojas had no solid update after the game.
“Let’s pray for the best here,” Rojas said. “We’ve run into situations like this before and guys have come and helped the team, so let’s see what happens now and in the future, but before that we just have to see what’s going on with Petey.”
It was just a night to forget for Peterson overall after he allowed five earned runs on eight hits and one walk over three innings – an outing that saw his ERA swell to 5.40.
He had shown improvement over his last three starts after a tough start to his season. However, he was jumped upon from his first pitch Wednesday night with Ronald Acuna Jr. blasting a leadoff home run in the first inning before another run scored on Ozzie Albies‘ RBI single two batters later.
That wiped out the 2-0 lead the Mets had built in the top half of the inning, and it only got worse in the third as Austin Riley delivered a two-run single to increase the Braves lead to 4-2.
Peterson did strike out Acuna but he walked Freddie Freeman and gave up a single to Albies, and after Abraham Almonte had delivered a leadoff double and Kevan Smith recorded an RBI single in the fourth, the left-hander was removed from the game.
Things, of course, only spiralled out of control for the Mets from that point on. The Braves completely exploded with seven runs in the fourth as Sean Reid-Foley, who took over from Peterson in relief, was shelled early and often.
The end result was the third-worst margin of loss in franchise history, and the 18-run differential was the most runs New York have ever given up to the Braves. The Mets have now lost 10 of their last 16 games, with the plethora of injuries starting to make a considerable impact.
The franchise will now wait with bated breath for news on Peterson who, if he needs to be added to the injured list, will join fellow pitchers Noah Syndergaard, Carlos Carrasco, Joey Lucchesi, Betances and Jordan Yamamoto on the shelf.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Mets who will want to close the book on Wednesday as quickly as possible. Good news, then, a certain superstar will be taking the mound for the Mets on Thursday night.
