David

Peterson

He’s taking the place of Giants’ left-hander Robbie Ray who will start in the Giants’ first-half finale on Sunday and wouldn’t be available to pitch in the All-Staar Game. Peterson is definitely worthy of the honor — registering a 3.06 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and an 93/37 K/BB ratio across 109 innings in 18 starts for the Mets in the first half. It’s the first All-Star selection for the 29-year-old southpaw.

Peterson deserved better. He blanked the Orioles over his first seven frames, but he allowed a runner to reach in the eighth, and Gunnar Henderson hit a pinch-hit homer off Ryne Stanek to prevent him — and the Mets — from getting a win. Peterson allowed just five hits in the contest without issuing a walk, and he struck out six. He’ll take an excellent 3.06 ERA into the All-Star break, and he’ll likely start one of the first games after that mini vacation.

It’ll be made up on Thursday as a doubleheader. Wednesday’s original starting pitchers — David Peterson and Tomoyuki Sugano — will presumably take the ball at some point during the twin bill at Camden Yards.

Peterson, who was coming off consecutive losses in which he gave up five runs apiece, got the win tonight, moving him to 6-4 with a 3.18 ERA. Peterson is an excellent groundball pitcher, but this is the fourth straight outing in which he’s walked three batters and struck out no more than five. He had a 71/25 K/BB ratio over 79 2/3 innings in his first 13 starts. In his last four, he has a 16/12 K/BB and a 5.64 ERA in 22 1/3 innings. He’ll face the Orioles next week.

The Pirates were all over Peterson in this one. He got through the first inning unscathed, but they sent nine men to the plate in the second and scored four runs. Of the eight balls they put in play, seven were hit harder than 100 mph and almost none were hit on the ground. In fact, Peterson was a bit lucky to leave that inning with only the four runs allowed. He couldn’t locate any of his pitches and looked much more like the Peterson we saw early in his career rather than the one who’s had an ERA under three over the last calendar year. His next start is scheduled to come at home against the red-hot Brewers.

Peterson struck out four batters on the evening while issuing three free passes. The 29-year-old southpaw kept the Phillies’ offense off the scoreboard through his first three innings of work, but they broke through with five runs in the fourth inning including a solo blast by Kyle Schwarber and a three-run homer by Edmundo Sosa. Peterson got eight whiffs on 72 pitches on the evening, registering a CSW of 25 percent. Even with this rough outing, Peterson still sports a terrific 2.98 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and a 78/31 K/BB ratio across 90 2/3 innings through his first 15 starts on the season. He’ll look to get back on track when he squares off against the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Friday.

The final two runs came after he left the game in the eighth. Peterson struck out just three, but he kept the ball on the ground throughout and was rewarded with a couple of double plays. It would be his seventh straight quality start if only he’d been allowed to get one more out against the Rockies on May 30. Alas, he didn’t factor into the decision tonight after Reed Garrett blew the lead in the eighth. Peterson is due to take on the Phillies on Sunday.

What a moment for Peterson. He was met by a roaring ovation from the Citi Field faithful on his way to the mound just before finishing off the first complete game shutout of his career. An incredibly rare feat in this day and age, Peterson was very efficient on his way to this gem. He’d thrown just 32 pitches after the first three innings and forced 18 total ground balls on 25 balls in play. This was also the third time in four starts he’s completed at least seven innings and he now has a sterling 2.49 ERA, which is the fourth-lowest in the National League. He’s heading into a huge two-start week against both the Braves and Phillies on the road with some serious momentum.

Peterson seemed to be cruising to a win before this Mets bullpen allowed three runs in the eighth inning to cough up the game. The left-hander struck out six on the day while walking two and posting a 29 percent whiff rate and 30 percent CSW. He got plenty of whiffs on his slider, and the four-seamer controlled the zone for much of the day. Peterson has been great this year, with a 2.80 ERA so far. He’s in a good spot against the Nationals next week.

While Peterson wasn’t his sharpest, he still managed to work his way to a solid final line. Falling one out short of the quality start is frustrating, but the Rockies were rallying against him in the sixth innings and he was fortunate that Huascar Brazobán stranded runners on second and third base. Francisco Lindor also made a tremendous leaping grab with the bases loaded and two outs in the third to save two runs. He just didn’t quite have the usual strong command of his slider against right-handed batters which limited his swings-and-misses. He’ll have to be sharper in his next scheduled start against the Dodgers.