Mets' offense can't overcome David Peterson's rough outing in 7-4 loss to Padres

The Mets were defeated by the San Diego Padres 7-4 on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

Here are some takeaways…

– David Peterson's struggles continued, as he was knocked around by the Padres in just five innings of work. The left-hander was hurt by some soft contact in the early innings, allowing a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first and then another on an RBI single in the second. 

He appeared to settle into a bit of a groove, putting together back-to-back scoreless frames, but things caved in on him in the fifth. After loading the bases on a single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk, Manny Machado crushed a go-ahead grand slam to deep left. 

Peterson escaped the inning without further damage but his final line still closed with an ugly six runs allowed on six hits and three walks while striking out just one batter — bringing his ERA to 3.98 for the season. 

– The Mets' three runs off of San Diego right-hander Nick Pivetta all came via solo blasts. Pete Alonso got them on the board in the bottom of the first, Starling Marte evened things up at the time with one of his own in the fourth, then Juan Soto lifted one to right in the fifth. 

Alonso's left the bat at a whopping 112 mph as he's now homered in three straight, Marte snapped a 16-game homerless drought to give him eight on the season, and Soto tied his career-high, which he set last year while with the Yankees (41). 

– Dom Hamel entered, making his MLB debut behind Peterson; he was the 46th different pitcher used by the Mets this season, which is a new league record. Hamel was helped out by some shoddy Padres base-running to escape the sixth with no runs against. 

– The Mets were able to chip into the lead against the high-powered Padres bullpen. Francisco Alvarez took a second-pitch slider from right-hander Jeremiah Estrada and lifted it the other way just over the right field fence, cutting it back down to a two-run ballgame. 

After Cedric Mullins walked and stole second, Soto appeared to have lifted a game-tying two-run shot off of hard-throwing All-Star Mason Miller, but it hooked just inches foul — Miller got the best of both Soto and Alonso representing the tying run, then put together a 1-2-3 eighth.

– Soto would have one more opportunity to even this thing up in the bottom of the ninth. After Ryne Stanek allowed a solo homer in the top half, San Diego's Robert Suarez put two on with two outs in the ninth, but he got the All-Star slugger to line into a comebacker to end the game and secure the save.  

– Brett Baty did enjoy himself another strong day at the plate, reaching three times with two singles and a double. The left-hander hitting slugger entered play with a .297 average, 12 extra base-hits, 17 RBI, and a .854 OPS in 47 games following the All-Star break. 

– With an announced attendance of 41,783 on the night, Citi Field officially reached a total of 3 million fans for the season for the first time since the stadium opened its gates for the first time back in 2009.  

– New York's lead for the final wild card is back down to 1.5 games over the Diamondbacks, Reds, and Giants. 

Game MVP: Manny Machado

Machado's grand slam was the big blast that sunk Peterson and the Mets in this one. 

Highlights

What's next

The Mets and Padres close out this three-game set on Wednesday afternoon at 1:10 p.m.

Jonah Tong (1-2, 8.49 ERA) takes the ball against RHP Randy Vásquez (5-6, 3.72 ERA). 

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