David Peterson tosses six shutout innings as Mets blank Rockies
Mets pitcher David Peterson throws n the top of the fourth inning against the Rockies at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Amid all the reasonable hype about this Mets rotation — with the ace and the other ace and the group of veterans pitching plenty of innings — and what it might be able to accomplish come October, don’t forget what it takes to get there. Depth matters.
Gone are the days of Jerad Eickhoff and Wilmer Font and Corey Oswalt. When the 2022 Mets have had a doubleheader or an injury — or just have felt like slotting in another starting pitcher — they have turned to David Peterson, who has provided everything a team could ask of a No. 6 starter.
Peterson contributed his best start of the season Saturday in a 3-0 win over the Rockies: six shutout innings with seven strikeouts, no walks and four hits. That was his longest scoreless start since June 2021.
Across 16 starts this season, he has a 3.09 ERA.
“The things they’ve done for us in a time of need,” manager Buck Showalter said, lumping Peterson with Tylor Megill and Trevor Williams, “bodes well.”
If the Mets are fortunate, that might be Peterson’s last start of the season. Carlos Carrasco has said he expects to return from an oblique strain next weekend, so the regular rotation will be whole again. Barring another injury, Peterson will be relegated to the minors or the bullpen, with an eye on a postseason role. Their relief corps lacks an effective lefthander, and Mets decision-makers have hinted he will get another look.
“It’s exciting to have the prospect to get [Carrasco] back,” Showalter said. “It’s also exciting to know Pete’s there if we are in need.”
The Mets (82-46) are 36 games above .500 for the first time since the end of the 1988 season. They also clinched a winning season and upped their NL East lead to three games over second-place Atlanta, which lost to St. Louis.
Against Colorado (54-74), Peterson was in trouble early, navigating a 25-pitch first inning. Two of the first four batters singled. Then he retired the next 10 to get into the fifth.
“Once he got through the first inning and established his changeup — it was going to be a pitch they were going to have to honor — the game opened up to him,” Showalter said. “He stayed in attack mode . . . He was the key to the game.”
Peterson agreed, calling his changeup “huge,” especially in the middle innings, when his slider was not sharp.
“It was a good pitch to help me get some weak contact and a couple strikeouts,” he said.
Opposing Peterson was his close friend and fellow Denver-area product, Kyle Freeland, a lefthander who in five innings held the Mets to two runs and four hits (and quite a few hard-hit balls that turned into outs).
In his first game back from the injured list, Eduardo Escobar went 0-for-3 with five runners left on base. The Mets opted to keep prospect Brett Baty in the majors, designating infielder Yolmer Sanchez for assignment and positioning Baty and Escobar to share time at third base indefinitely.
Brandon Nimmo, who grew up a Rockies fan, drove in two runs and scored the other.
His leadoff home run in the first inning was just his second long ball at Citi Field this year (compared to 10 on the road). In the second, the Mets were close to wasting a two-on, no-out scoring opportunity until Nimmo came through with an RBI double to rightfield. He also reached base via a walk in the seventh and scored on Starling Marte’s double.
Those were encouraging signs for Nimmo, who entered the game hitting .208 with a .292 OBP and .307 slugging percentage at Citi Field but had a .306/.400/.490 slash line in away games, a highly unusual split in the context of his career.
“I didn’t realize that until like three or four days ago and I was like, ‘Holy crap. That is bad,’ ” Nimmo said. “I don’t know. I honestly have no clue, because I’ve normally liked playing at home a lot and normally hit well at home. I don’t know why it’s so bad this year . . . Maybe I can have a great September at home or something like that.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
