Peterson Returns In Style, Mets' Offense Erupts To Beat Brewers

David Peterson throwing one by Willy Adames in the first inning on Wednesday night. Photo by Jason Schott.

David Peterson threw six shutout innings in his best outing of the season as the Mets rolled to a  7-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.

The Mets' offense also had one of their best nights of the season, as Brandon Nimmo hit two home runs, Francisco Lindor hit his 200th career home run, and Daniel Vogelbach also homered as the Mets rolled to a 7-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. 

It’s rare you see the turning point of the game occur in the first inning, but that’s just what happened for Peterson, who was making his first start for the Mets since May 15, as he entered this game with a record of 1-6 with an 8.08 earned run average (ERA).

William Contreras got a one-out single, followed by a walk by Christian Yelich, who was hitting third in this one against the lefty Peterson after leading off Monday night. Willy Adames then drew a walk, on which ball four was "just a bit outside," to quote Harry Doyle from "Major League," which prompted a smattering of boos, as Milwaukee had the bases loaded with one out.

Then, Owen Miller swung at the first pitch, and hit it right to shortstop Francisco Lindor, and it was a double play to end the inning.

That gave Peterson life, as he worked around a double from Joey Weimer in the second inning, and then retired the Brewers in order in the third.

Milwaukee rallied in the fourth, as Adames led off with a walk, and Miller singled. Then, incredibly, Peterson got Luis Urias to hit into a double play to Lindor to snuff out the rally. Peterson then struck out Brian Anderson to end the frame.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee starter Julio Teheran - who entered with a 1.53 ERA and a 2-2 record in six starts in his return to the Major Leagues after he spent last season with the independent Staten Island Ferry Hawks - retired the Mets in order, nine up, nine down over the first three innigs.

That all changed in an instant when Brandon Nimmo blasted one to right field into the Mets bullpen to lead off the fourth inning. Then, a batter later, Francisco Lindor went the other way to left center field into the seats for another solo home run, and the Mets were up, 2-0. It was his 16th home run of the season, to go with 54 RBI. It was the 200th home run of his career, with 138 when he played for the Cleveland Indians, and 62 in his two-plus seasons with the Mets.

Francisco Lindor greeted by Pete Alonso after his historic home run. Photo by Jason Schott.

Then, in the fifth, the Mets rallied again, as Daniel Vogelbach singled, and then with two outs, Nimmo blasted another one, this time to center field, for a two-run homer to double the Mets lead, at 4-0. Nimmo now has 10 home runs and 39 RBI on the season.

The Mets blew it open in the sixth, as Tommy Pham had an RBI double, and Vogelbach blasted a two-run homer to make it 7-0. 

Peterson threw six shutout innings, as he allowed no runs on five hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. He improved to 2-6 and he lowered his ERA by over a run, to 7.00.

BUCK ON ESCOBAR: It’s rare to see a manager talk about a player that his team just traded away, but Mets Manager Buck Showalter showed what a sentimental man he is on Tuesday afternoon.

Showalter opened his pregame press conference by talking about Eduardo Escobar, who the Mets traded to the Angels on Friday.

“You know, Escobar got his citizenship today, that’s huge,”Showalter said. “That’s big; that makes my day. Very proud that everybody did their part in that. I think he was taking the test in Miami. We told them (Angels) that was going to happen; they knew about it, I’m sure. Think about all the players asking him questions, making sure he was ready for it. That was one of the highlights, making sure he was ready for it. That was one of the highlights of the year, was watching - they started out kidding, but they were quizzing him to make sure he knew the answers.

“Everybody needs a laugh, so they were kidding him, think he was going to mispronounce something, asking him who the first President of the United States was, and he said - Escy had that devilish look on his face, he said, ‘Ron Washington.’”