The Mets fell behind 4-0 in the first inning and lost 7-4 to the Giants in San Francisco on Saturday afternoon, only their second loss in nine games on this west coast trip that ends with one more game on Sunday.
Here are the key takeaways…
1) David Peterson continues to be a disappointment this season. He was ambushed early on Saturday, giving up four runs in the first inning and seven overall in five innings of work, as his ERA rose to 7.36.
Of his five starts this season, Peterson has shown some toughness in pitching out of trouble at times, even earning a win on Monday in Los Angeles despite giving up six runs in six innings, but he has yet to have a truly strong start.
In 25 2/3 innings, in fact, he has given up 33 hits and nine walks, meaning that he’s rarely had a clean inning. And the home run ball has hurt him: Peterson has given up six of them, including a three-run shot by Brandon Crawford in the first inning on Saturday when he hung a 3-2 slider and the Giants’ shortstop crushed it.
2) Giants’ right-hander Logan Webb shut down the hot Mets’ offense, giving up only five hits and two runs in seven innings.
Webb had been off to a rough start, 0-4 with a 4.94 ERA, but over the last couple of years he has established himself as one of the better right-handers in the majors, featuring a nasty sinker, and given the early lead he pitched with dominance on Saturday, racking up eight strikeouts.
As a result, Webb earned his first win, going 1-4 with a 4.40 ERA.
3) The Mets have had success running the bases aggressively this season, but they ran themselves out of potential rallies on Saturday.
In the third inning, Starling Marte followed Brandon Nimmo‘s leadoff home run with a bunt single but was then thrown out trying to steal second with the Mets trailing 6-2.
In the fourth, one-out singles by Jeff McNeil and Mark Canha put runners at first and second, but McNeil miscalculated on a pitch in the dirt to Daniel Vogelbachthinking it would bounce away from catcher Joey Bart. But Bart did a nice job of blocking it, keeping it close, and McNeil was an easy out trying to take third.
4) Brett Baty helped the Mets make a late run at the Giants with singles in the eighth and ninth innings, scoring a run in the eighth and driving in a run in the ninth.
The ninth-inning at-bat was especially impressive as Baty battled back from 0-2 against Giants’ closer Camilo Doval, who throws 100 mph. With the count at 2-2, Baty lined a fastball to the opposite field to drive in Canha. Pinch-hitter Luis Guillorme then grounded out to second to end the game.
With the two hits, after two earlier strikeouts, Baty raised his average to .235.
5) Right-hander Edwin Ucetacalled up from the minors five days ago, made his Mets’ debut and pitched three scoreless innings in relief.
At age 25, Uceta pitched as a low-leverage reliever the last two years for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively. The D-Backs put Uceta on waivers in January, as did the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates this spring. The Mets claimed Uceta off waivers from the Pirates on April 6th.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets and Giants finish their four-game series on Sunday Night Baseball at 7:10 pm on ESPN.
RHP Taylor Megill takes on RHP Stripling rice.