David Peterson was given a vote of confidence by his manager after securing his first career win in his big league debut last week in Boston. The 2017 first rounder made good for Luis Rojas in his second start, tossing a quality start in the Mets’ 4-0 loss on Sunday.

Peterson tossed 87 pitches over six solid innings, giving up three runs on just five hits. The left-hander struck out eight Braves and walked just one. That one walk, however, came at the low point in his outing. After facing the minimum through the first two innings with a pair of strikeouts, Adam Duvall opened the third with a single, Austin Riley followed with a double off the left field fence, and Adeiny Hechavarria rolled a ground ball to Jeff McNeil. McNeil caught Duvall between third and home and threw home, but Duvall scrambled back to third base. On a routine grounder, the Mets could not record an out, and the Braves loaded the bases as a result.

Peterson had to contend with the top of the Atlanta lineup in the no-out jam, and walked Ronald Acuña on four pitches to force home the game’s opening tally.

“[That walk] was completely in my control,” the left-hander said after the game. “I might have been trying to do too much there instead of just trying to get the out and it hurt us.”

Peterson was able to calm down and limit the damage though. He struck out a red-hot Dansby Swanson and allowed a second run on a Freddie Freeman groundout, and Marcell Ozuna grounded out to end the inning.

Peterson was able to quiet down Ozuna, who has torched the Mets through the early season. He kept him hitless and struck him out twice, including once on an impressive back-foot slider.

Peterson again wavered in the fourth, as Johan Camargo lifted a slider into the first row of the left field stands for a solo home run, making it a 3-0 deficit. Duvall followed with a sharp double, but Peterson again composed himself and ended the inning with consecutive strikeouts.

Peterson wound up retiring the final eight Braves that he faced. He flashed solid command and feel for all his pitches throughout the game, but especially impressed in the bookends of the outing.

“I felt good with all pitches,” Peterson said. “All four pitches I was comfortable with today.”

Peterson’s confidence in his pitches shined through in this outing. After he struck out just three Red Sox in his debut and mostly pitched to contact, Peterson was eliciting a noticeably higher amount of swinging strikes in this outing. Another positive sign was that he kept the ball on the ground more. In his debut in Boston, Peterson got just four groundouts compared to seven flyouts. Today, the sinkerballer got seven outs on the ground compared to just two in the air.

Despite the loss, Peterson showed lots of poise and skill in his second major league start. If he continues to miss bats and get ground balls, the lefty may find himself throwing every fifth day for the Mets even after Marcus Stroman is ready to come back.