Mets manager Carlos Mendoza knew what he wanted to see from David Peterson before the night even arrived. He summoned his most reliable starter to attack Nationals hitters in the zone, all while keeping the ball on the ground and limiting the walks that plagued him in his shortest outing of the season last week.
A demanding task, but by no means a challenge that Peterson couldn't conquer. And much to the Mets' delight, the dependable southpaw excelled, completing eight dominant innings of one-run ball with a season-high 10 strikeouts in an 8-1 win on Tuesday night at Nationals Park.
"Hell of a job. That's where it starts — when he's throwing strikes, using all of his pitches, basically competing in the strike zone," Mendoza said after the game. "The changeup was really good. The curveball, the slider, the sinker. He got groundballs.
"For him to go eight [innings] was really good. Solid, in complete control — which was good to see, especially after his last outing. For him to bounce back that way… It was nice, not going to lie."
If he broke a sweat during the first four innings, Peterson didn't show it. He faced the minimum through those frames on a career-best 41 pitches, and after escaping a jam in the sixth inning, he registered his ninth outing of six-plus innings over the last 60 games (since June 8). No other Mets starter has even achieved this feat once.
Peterson was given a rather comfortable lead, as a five-run rally in the third provided him ample cushion to pitch with conviction. After retiring the Nationals in order in the seventh, the Mets trusted him for an eighth inning of work. And while his shutout bid was ultimately lost after allowing a leadoff triple, he recovered to walk off the mound with double-digit punchouts.
"Being aggressive, getting ahead early in the count, and staying on the attack," Peterson said. "I honestly felt like we had a really good feel for [the changeup] and [Luis Torrens] was all over it with the calls on it. Being able to get some swing and misses, some soft contact, being ahead in the count helps with that."
It wasn't Peterson's best performance of the season — first place still belongs to his home start against the Nationals on June 11, when he delivered his first-career shutout. But Tuesday's rebound effort in the nation's capital checked off all the boxes. If only he could face that lineup 30-plus times a year.
"[My last start] felt pretty uncharacteristic to me. So, it was just kind of flushing it and getting on to the next one," Peterson said. "I kind of knew exactly what I didn't do well and needed to work on… I go out there and try to give the team a chance to win. Try to be efficient. Being on the attack, getting ahead in the counts helps that."
Peterson now owns a 3.18 ERA this season, and remains the only Mets starter to throw a pitch in the eighth inning this season.
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