We all know the depth issues the Mets have in their starting rotation and last night David Peterson illustrated the point that he has shown he can be a big part of the rotation down the stretch and for many years.
He gave the Mets 6 innings of one run ball striking out a career high 10 batters including Met killer Freddie Freeman who went down swinging three times against the young Met southpaw. Peterson has the look of a veteran hurler as he wiggled out of 2nd and third no out situation in the second inning that shifted the momemtum in this game.
Met second basemen Robinson Cano who has seen his share of great pitching in his career said after the game, “He pitches like a veteran and he is never afraid to throw his secondary pitches to get out of trouble. He has given us such a lift this season.”
Speaking of lifts, Cano continues his hot hitting as he drove in 3 runs tonight including a solo homer in the 8th that followed a Dominic Smith homer padding the Met lead. This Met lineup has evolved into a deep run producing group of players that combines power threats with high on base peercentage guys like Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil coupled with the RBI bats of Michael Conforto, Dom Smith and Robinson Cano.
The Met wild card chase is in full force and they enter Sunday’s game with Braves just one and a half games from that final wild card spot currently owned by the Reds. With 8 games left in the season, the Mets would need to go 6-2 to get to .500 which may indeed nail down a wild card berth.
They will certainly need some scoreboard help but the idea is to keep the pressure on the teams above them in the standings by winning games in the final week oof the season. Only one game in the important loss column separates the team from that last playoff spot and they will likely need to also catch the Giants and Brewers whom they trail by a half a game in the hunt.
As each day passes, The Mets keep climbing the ladder but I really believe they need 2 of 3 vs Rays and 3 of 4 vs the Nats coupled with a win today over the Braves at Citi to climb that wild card mountain. And with deGrom and Lugo scheduled to pitch the first 2 games of the series vs the Rays today’s contest versus the Braves with Rick Porcello on the mound seems to be a must win. Please listen to post game Zoom audio below!