Saturday night brought more of what it becomes commonplace for the beginning pitcher of the Mets’ rookie.
Norm, Peterson.
Cheers – the wrong kind – filled Citi Field for David Peterson’s home debut, and the left hinger was well worth it. Fifteen outs came quickly, allowing the bullpen to complete the course, albeit with a short snap, in an 8-4 victory over the Marlins.
“I didn’t have the biggest command last night, but when I ran some guys, I had to be able to get myself out,” said Peterson, who allowed two deserved runs on four hits and three walks over five innings.
Early homers from Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso and a late blast from JD Davis provided the run support for Peterson, who went to 86 fields.
Peterson (2-1, 3.78 ERA) completes the rotation left by Marcus Stroman, who shot his left calf in summer camp, has survived veterans Steven Matz, Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello, which could lead to one of the three who get a resume after the bull once Stroman returns. It is unclear how close the Strama may be to forcing that decision.
“We’ll have to come,” said manager Luis Rojas. “Right now, David Peterson is our fifth starter and he’s doing a great job.”
Peterson, the Mets’ top pick in the 2017 draft, has lasted at least five innings in each of his three starts and has allowed no more than three runs in any of those appearances.
Logan Forsythe homerated against Peterson who gave up the fifth to cut the Mets’ lead to 4-2, but the lefty pitched back to retire three of the next four fighters. Peterson escaped from a second inning in which he ran two fighters.
“He had some challenges with his command,” Rojas said. ‘It was not in the first two outings and he shot back. ‘
Jeurys Familia kept this one too interesting from the Mets’ perspective, by running in the sixth three batters and leaving two runs that drew the Marlins within 5-4. It was the worst exit of the season for Familia, which went away before the third came out.
Corey Dickerson ran and Brian Anderson finished to start the rally before Familia got Francisco Cervelli to ride in a double play. Matt Joyce and Forsythe then ran consecutively to load the bases, prompting Rojas to call up Drew Smith, who allowed a two-run ground ball to Monte Harrison. It snaps a 14-point scoreless streak through the Mets bullpen in the previous four games.
Robert Gsellman, in his first appearance in nearly a year, worked a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts before Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson each fired a shutout inning.
Davis delivered a cushion in the seventh with a three-run homer that extended the Mets lead to 8-4. The homer was Davis’ third this season.
Alonso’s scoring line-up cleared the left-wing box with two outs in the third for a two-run homer that gave the Mets a 4-1 lead over lefty Daniel Castano, who headed the second. pitcher was for the Mets in his premiership debut. The scrubbing to fill rotation places happened after a COVID-19 outbreak nearly two weeks ago forced the Marlins to check about half of their roster.
The homer was the second of the season for Alonso, who in recent days has begun to look like the hitter who carried the Mets lineup last season.
“I think Pete was a little pushy, but I think the last few games that Pete played, that was more Pete,” coach Chili Davis told The Post before the game. “He’s coming back. I think he will do well. We need to get the homers out of his head. He just needs to hit. ”
Conforto’s two-run homer in the second responsible the Mets’ first score. Alonso ran the inning lead before Conforto hit his third homer of the season, all of which came against lefties.
The Mets reached the quarter-finals of the shortened season at 6-9, but Davis would have preferred to avoid taking advantage of the schedule.
“We try to stay away from that sense of urgency,” he said. “I think it does more harm than good.”
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