Peterson provides length, boost to Mets' rotation in win over Crew

NEW YORK -- The Mets owe David Peterson a debt.

On a night when manager Carlos Mendoza quipped that “everybody in the ballpark knew” the Mets were facing some major pitching challenges, Peterson proved once again to be a steadying force. He pitched into the seventh inning of a 3-2 win over the Brewers on Thursday, leading the Mets to their first series win in three weeks.

Peterson’s performance at Citi Field marked the first time a Mets starter has recorded an out in the seventh inning since … Peterson himself on June 17 against the Braves. Over the last calendar month, Peterson is the only Mets starter to pitch into the seventh, and he’s done so four times. The last time one of his teammates managed such length was Clay Holmes way back on June 1.

“We haven’t been able to get that consistently,” Mendoza said. “Petey, it feels like … he’s going to get you through six, and he’s going to go back out for the seventh.”

Although Thursday was not Peterson’s finest outing, it was plenty good enough, typifying the type of pitcher he is. The left-hander managed merely one clean inning but induced a pair of double plays and plenty of other soft contact to hold the Brewers to two runs (one earned).

“I think this is a very good Major League starter,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said before the game. “Yes, there are going to be balls in play with David Peterson. … But the way he goes about it, his ability to stay in-zone with all of his pitches, his ability to compete, his ability to mix -- I think he has a very successful formula for getting Major League hitters out.”

Upon departing with a lead thanks to a Brandon Nimmo solo homer and RBI hits from Juan Soto and Pete Alonso, Peterson watched Ryne Stanek and Edwin Díaz combine on seven near-perfect outs to seal his victory.

“That’s just the David Peterson that we all know,” said catcher Luis Torrens, whose strong throw to catch Christian Yelich trying to steal second in the ninth all but ended things.

This Peterson performance felt different, however, coming at a time when the Mets sorely, sorely needed it. Before the game, the team placed another starting pitcher, Paul Blackburn, on the injured list. Since the start of Spring Training, six of the Mets’ top eight starters have spent time on the IL. Five are there now: Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning and Blackburn.

The good news is with the exception of Canning, who’s out for the season, the Mets expect all of those starters back relatively soon. Manaea and Senga could return before the All-Star break. Megill may be an option later in July. Blackburn is scheduled to restart a throwing program next week. By the end of the month, the Mets should be able to trade for pitching help if they need it.

In the interim, the Mets are mostly worried about navigating the upcoming week. Unofficially, team officials have discussed a Subway Series rotation that looks like this:

Friday: Justin Hagenman
Saturday: Frankie Montas
Sunday: Brandon Waddell

That’s not how the Mets drew things up over the offseason, when Stearns took pains to acquire what seemed like a surplus of starting pitching depth. As recently as two weeks ago, the Mets were so rich with pitching that they briefly discussed moving Montas -- a $34 million offseason acquisition -- to the bullpen.

The situation has not only changed drastically, but it threatened to look worse if Peterson failed to find his early-season form. Entering Thursday’s play, the left-hander was coming off his two worst (and shortest) starts of the season. Even though Peterson was healthy, his issues had been compounding the Mets’ rotation problems.

Between outings, Peterson made a mechanical fix, which helped him induce 10 ground-ball outs and pitch deep enough to give the Mets -- for a night, at least -- some measure of rotation relief.

“We’ve kind of been battling it right now, and it sucks, and we wish those guys the best,” Peterson said. “But at the same time, we’ve got a job to do. Being able to go as deep as I can and pass it off to Stanek and Díaz, it was a good night.”