Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
A few days after getting hit hard in Milwaukee, David Peterson followed up a rather forgettable outing with a strong one. Despite taking the loss in Tuesday’s game against the San Diego Padres, Peterson gave the Mets a much-needed quality start, allowing just two runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched.
The minor blemish on Peterson’s stat line came in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s contest, as the left-hander surrendered a two-run double to Manny Machado with two outs. Not only did Peterson keep the Mets in the game, but he pitched well enough to earn his first win of the season. Unfortunately, the Mets bats went quiet in the second game of New York’s series against the Padres. The Mets scored just two runs against San Diego’s pitching staff, while also leaving seven on base.
New York left the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the first before Peterson had to dig deep in the following half inning. Peterson was also able to get out of trouble in the second inning and nearly got out of it in the fifth. After two singles and a sacrifice bunt, the Padres were threatening to make Tuesday’s outing another rough one for the Mets lefty. With runners on the corners and just one out in the second inning, Peterson was able to get Padres’ outfielder Trent Grisham to ground into a double play to end the threat.
Over the next two innings, Peterson recorded four of his six strikeouts, retiring the Padres in order, minus a two-out walk from Jake Cronenworth. With Peterson cruising into the fifth inning, Luis Campusano and Brandon Dixon — who had the hardest hit-hit ball of Tuesday’s game with an exit velocity of 107 mph — tagged him for singles before Machado came to the plate with two outs.
In a 2-2 count, Machado fouled off consecutive pitches before ripping a slider that barely hugged the third base line to bring in two. Peterson struck out Juan Soto to end the inning. While Peterson faced three more batters, manager Buck Showalter came to get him with two outs in the top of the sixth inning after Ha-Seong Kim roped a single into right field.
Peterson induced a game-high 13 swings and misses, as he heavily relied on his slider, which he threw 27 percent of the time on Tuesday. Peterson got opposing hitters to swing at his slider 13 times while recording five whiffs on his signature pitch. He also got four whiffs on 11 swings with his four-seam fastball, which he threw 21 percent of the time during his outing. The spin rate on Peterson’s slider was up 60 RPM from its yearly average, which clearly contributed to his success on Tuesday. But, it was the pitch that Machado beat him on.
His next start will likely come against the Los Angeles Dodgers next week, as the Mets head west for a 10-game road trip. The Mets have to hope that Peterson’s slider will be working as it did Tuesday when he pitches in his native California. If Peterson can pitch as he did against San Diego or close to it, he’ll be an invaluable part of New York’s rotation for the remainder of the regular season.
