David Peterson Knocked Out in First Inning

The New York Mets clinched their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks (20-37) on Wednesday, improving to 27-21 as a result, but it had little to do with David Peterson who got the start in this one.

On a night where Pete Alonso came up clutch in the ninth inning and Francisco Lindor continued to break out by going 3-for-5, Peterson struggled on the mound and put together arguably the worst start of his young career.

Maybe such a rough night shouldn’t have come as that big of a surprise given that the 25-year-old was pitching for the first time in nine days due to postponements and a reshuffling of the rotation, but it still wasn’t a game to remember for Peterson who will be keen to move on as quickly as possible.

However, he couldn’t have been put in a better situation given that the Mets had carved out a four-run lead in the first inning, a real offensive outburst that this team really needed to say the very least.

Despite that considerable advantage, though, Peterson got shelled as soon as he stepped on to the mound and things began to turn ugly very quickly, giving up five earned runs on three walks and four hits, including a two-run homer to Ketel Marte.

That came after Carson Kelly walked while leading off, and then Christian Walker‘s single and consecutive walks to Pavin Smith and Nick Ahmed that led to a two-run single made sure that Peterson’s 10th start of the season was short and not very sweet.

He lasted just 35 pitches and was soon taken out of the game with manager Luis Rojas keen to avoid his team having to dig themselves out of a gaping hole, and Robert Gsellman was tasked with coming into the game and recording the final two outs of the first inning.

It was just a tough day at the office for Peterson who struggled to find his release point all day, and his newly-founded change-up was all over the place too.

No athlete likes to use excuses for poor performance but Peterson admitted in the wake of his debacle that significant time between starts may have impacted his ability to go out and perform on Wednesday.

“Any time you get off routine like that it has an effect,” Peterson said. “But my job is to deal with that and go out and give the team a chance to win.”

Peterson retired just one batter all night – Eduardo Escobar – and it was his second outing against the Diamondbacks within a month in which he failed to complete two innings after failing to stay in the game for more than two innings at Citi Field on May 7, allowing three earned runs in that start.

Luckily, the bullpen came in and bailed Peterson out after Gsellman lasted to the fifth, including a perfect ninth inning from Edwin Diaz, while hot bats from the likes of Alonso, Lindor, Dominic Smith (3-for-4) and James McCann (3-for-5) ensured that the Mets escaped the game with a hard-fought win.

As a result of Wednesday night’s titanic struggle, Peterson’s ERA this season now sits at an unattractive 5.89, which certainly isn’t encouraging but the second-year pro has to work things out given that Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard are both still on the shelf, while the New York Mets would be wise to ensure that their fifth starter doesn’t have to wait as long between starts again in order to maximise his full potential.

It was certainly a tough learning curve for both pitcher and team on Wednesday.

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