The Mets fell behind big early and never could dig out of the hole, as they fell to the Giants, 7-4, Saturday afternoon in San Francisco.
David Peterson got the start and once again failed to deliver the goods. He allowed four runs in the first inning, three of them on a homer to Brandon Crawford. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he gave up two more runs in the second. And to complete the spit sandwich, Peterson served up a gopher ball in the fifth to Wilmer Flores.
Meanwhile, the offense was mostly held in check by Logan Webb, who allowed 2 ER in 7 IP. Daniel Vogelbach had an RBI double in the second inning and Brandon Nimmo cracked a solo homer in the third.
Once Webb left for the eighth inning, it looked like the Mets were going to make a game of it. After an RBI single by Starling Marte, they had two on and one out with Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso coming to bat. But Lindor hit a lazy fly ball to center and Alonso grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.
Brett Baty delivered an RBI single in the ninth inning. But this comeback was thwarted in two ways. Vogelbach was initially given first base on a pitch clock violation but after the Giants complained, the call was reversed. The pitcher did step off for a micro-second, so it appeared to be the right call. And then the Giants got a called third strike on a pitch that could have gone either way. And after the Baty hit, Tomas Nido was due up. Luis Guillorme was sent up as a pinch-hitter and he lived up to his nickname, grounding out to end the game.
We had a Bigfoot sighting, as Edwin Uceta finally got into a game, relieving Peterson for the sixth inning. Uceta tossed three scoreless innings, leaving the bullpen in excellent shape for Sunday.
Gut Reaction: Peterson’s start wasn’t competitive at all. In three of his five starts he has given up 5, 6 and 7 earned runs. I thought that he would step up this year but instead he is a disappointment. His rotation position is in jeopardy once the Mets are healthier.
Nimmo is on fire ! Let’s win tomorrow and secure another series win.
Why wait? Drop him from the rotation now and ship him to Syracuse to figure it out.
And pitch who?
Boy, so far, I have been completely wrong about David Peterson.
Coming into 2023, I felt strongly that he was ready to make the leap. In fact, I thought the Mets could not sign Carrasco and just roll with DP in the rotation.
Here is a 27-year-old pitcher coming off a solid 2022 with the chance of a lifetime and he has completely blown it. If everyone was healthy, he’d be in Syracuse trying to get his mechanics in order.
I’m disappointed in him. Visions of Matz.
He likely gets one more start. He should pitch as if his hair’s on fire.
Peterson’s job appears safe until some of our 4 injured starters come back. Grateful for Butto and Lucchesi stepping up as they did as they might just be hungrier for a shot at staying with the big club, again until our starters come back. Lindor and Alonso were the only O-fers in the lineup if you don’t count Guillorme, who face it, despite a .270 BA simply is not reliable at the plate. Bottom line is that we need to beat a mostly misfit Giants team who featured ex Mets Conforto, Flores and the ever popular Darin Ruf. This is the first game I can remember that after falling in a hole, thanks to Crawford’s three run jack, they did not appear to have the fight in them to come back. Megill on the mound tonight on ESPN to right the ship again before coming home to face the weakened Gnats for a three game set. Got to get on another run before the Braves finish out the week at Citifield.
What is amazing is that the Mets with all of their pitching injuries and no Verlander are 14-8. Last year after 22 games they werec15-7. Looking forward to getting Max back after his 10 game ban and getting Verlander on board.
Peterson is a Jekyl and Hyde pitcher. Luchessi and Butto both looked good, they both deserve another shot.