David Peterson struggles as Mets are swept by Cubs
Mets starting pitcher David Peterson walks through the dugout after being taken out of the game in the first inning against the Cubs during an MLB game at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Mets’ 6-3 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday required no second-guessing or interpreting or squinting to figure out where it all went wrong.
David Peterson allowed five runs and recorded just one out, his shortest, highest-scoring and potentially last start of the season. Although a parade of relievers stifled the Cubs the rest of the game, Mets hitters were quiet again, scoring two runs (one earned) in five innings against lefthander Drew Smyly.
That completed the sweep for the Cubs (61-82) but was far from the only indignity for the Mets (89-55). Among the others:
* It represented another missed opportunity to increase their NL East lead, which stayed at a half-game over Atlanta. As mediocre as the Mets have been lately, Atlanta has slowed, too, including losing consecutive road series to Seattle and San Francisco.
* It matched their season high with a third consecutive loss. The Mets had three-game losing streaks twice total in April, May, June, July and August. And now they have two in September.
* It dropped their record to 5-7 over their past dozen games, all against teams significantly below .500.
The Mets have three weeks and 18 games to go in the regular season.
“It’s there for us. It’s still there for us,” manager Buck Showalter said. “Like I told the players today, we control it. That would be frustrating if we didn’t. It’s the little thing we’ve been talking about all year. It’s called ‘play better.’”
Peterson (7-5) imploded almost immediately upon taking the mound. He walked each of his first three batters — all on full counts — to load the bases before getting his only out. But then Yan Gomes and P.J. Higgins had consecutive two-run doubles, the latter drawing boos from the Citi Field crowd. When Showalter pulled Peterson, more boos accompanied him during his slow walk to the dugout.
“I put us in a big hole and it’s unfair to ask those guys to try and dig us out of that,” said Peterson, whom the Mets might move to the bullpen for an audition for the postseason roster.
Showalter said: “Kept waiting for him to make some good pitches and it just snowballed on him, couldn’t get it righted.”
Long reliever Trevor Williams eventually provided stability (4 1/3 innings, one run, eight strikeouts). But only after another hiccup. His first two batters, Michael Hermosillo and Nelson Velazquez, contributed run-scoring hits. That made it 6-0 before the Mets had a turn at the plate.
Tomas Nido accounted for the Mets’ first run with a homer — his second in four days after having none in the year-plus before that — in the third.
The Mets threatened to make the game interesting in the late innings. But Brandon Nimmo grounded out to strand a pair of runners in the seventh, and Francisco Lindor grounded into a double play after Mark Canha’s leadoff single in the eighth. Pete Alonso followed with a solo shot — his 35th home run and 111th RBI of the season — but the Mets didn’t muster another challenge.
Are the Mets pressing at the plate?
“I hope so. It’s human nature,” Showalter said. “Can you function when you have that sense of urgency? That’s the challenge in just about all walks of life.”
Lindor added: “We all want to get it done desperately and we’re all trying to do what it takes to get it done. We just haven’t come through. I come up with people on base, I hit into a double play. I come up with people on base, I strike out. I come up with people on base, and I get one single. The consistency that was there earlier in the year, I’m not seeing [that] the last couple days.”
And this loss brought an unusual challenge.
“It’s tough to get into a rhythm of passing that baton and grinding out at-bats,” Showalter said, “when you know you’re going to have to score at least seven runs.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
