On an evening when Carlos Mendoza hoped to keep away from going to his bullpen early — or in any respect — due to the 13-inning marathon on Friday night time, David Peterson delivered precisely what the Mets wanted in Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Dodgers.
He threw 7 ²/₃ innings, which not solely matched his profession excessive, however was additionally the longest a Mets starter has pitched this yr.
“Especially with the bullpen we had, he knew the assignment,’’ Mendoza said of Peterson. “That’s a big boy performance right there.”
Since Griffin Canning solely lasted 2 ²/₃ innings earlier than a rain delay pressured him from Friday’s sport, eight Mets relievers mixed to pitch 10 ¹/₃ innings within the defeat.
Peterson mentioned he entered the outing with the identical sport plan he sometimes has, however with the attention of the state of affairs.
“You have that in your mind,” Peterson mentioned. “The situation that happened [Friday] night sucked, with [Canning] coming out early. I wanted to give these guys everything I had.”
That included holding Shohei Ohtani hitless in 4 at-bats and placing him out 3 times.
“He made him look human,’’ Mendoza mentioned.
Which is why he had Peterson face Ohtani once more within the eighth earlier than turning the sport over to Edwin Díaz.
“I did my job,’’ Peterson said of his dominance against Ohtani. “It’s all about executing. He’s just another hitter, one of nine in their lineup. That’s how I look at everybody. He’s a great player.”
It was the most recent spectacular efficiency from Peterson, who’s allowed greater than two earned runs simply as soon as this season — and by no means greater than three.
He’s been particularly good in his previous six begins, with a 2.50 ERA.
win over the Dodgers. Robert Sabo / New York Put up
Peterson’s constant success has come because the Mets anticipate big-ticket signees Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas to make their season debuts after struggling accidents throughout spring coaching.
And whereas Peterson walked 11 batters in his earlier three outings, he issued solely two on Saturday.
His solely blip got here within the second, when Andy Pages singled to proper with one out, Tommy Edman was hit by a pitch and Enrique Hernández adopted with a run-scoring single to heart.
A tapper in entrance of the plate by Dalton Speeding drove within the second Dodgers run, however following the RBI hit from Hernández, Peterson allowed simply three hits the remainder of the best way and confronted simply two batters above the minimal thanks to 3 double performs.
