David Peterson had his latest start, and his availability to fly home moved up by one day, after scheduled starter Chris Bassitt landed on the COVID-19 list earlier Friday.
Peterson, whose wife Alex is past her due date to give birth to their son in Colorado, delivered another strong performance with six quality innings in a 4-3 win over the Rangers at Citi Field.
Eduardo Escobar blasted a three-run homer in the fourth inning in support of Peterson, who improved to 5-1 with a 3.24 ERA.
Peterson followed up a strong seven-inning showing in the Mets’ 3-2 loss Sunday at Miami by allowing three runs on five hits over six innings (90 pitches) and tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts and zero walks.
The 26-year-old lefty said afterward that he’s “most likely” headed home and to the paternity list after he performs his post-start routine before the game on Saturday.
“It’s been on my mind this week, but my wife and I had talked earlier, and she had kind of given me the assurance that we’d be able to get through tonight,” Peterson said. “It definitely could’ve been a possibility I left today, but when I got here, it was all about the start.”
The first-place Mets (48-29) avoided their first four-game losing streak of the season.
“There’ve been a lot of moving parts,” manager Buck Showalter said of his makeshift rotation. “We talked a lot early about [Tylor] Megill, but you can make a case for what Petes’s done, especially under the circumstances, with his wife, and expecting the phone call.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of things going through his head. We can talk about a lot of things with this game, but his outing was probably the key part of it, especially with the circumstances.”
Peterson was tagged in the top of the third for a solo homer by Marcus Semien, his ninth of the first year of the $175 million free-agent contract he signed with the Rangers in the offseason.
The Mets had posted a .211 team batting average and a .610 collective OPS with 29 runs scored over their previous 10 games entering the night against former Yankees farmhand Glenn Otto, who was dealt to Texas last summer in the Joey Gallo trade.
Francisco Lindor led off the home fourth with a single to right, before moving to second on Jeff McNeil’s one-out walk. Mark Canha’s single inside third base snapped an 0-for-14 skid and drove in Lindor to tie the score at 1-1.
One out later, Escobar crushed Otto’s full-count sinker into the seats in right for a 4-1 Mets lead. It was the second homer in 17 games for Escobar since he hit for the cycle on June 6 in San Diego.
Texas first baseman Nate Lowe recouped one of those runs in the fifth with a 435-foot solo shot to right-center, his 11th of the year. But Peterson fanned three in the inning as he surpassed his previous season-high of eight set Sunday in Miami.
“I think it just goes back to the mentality of ‘next pitch.’ Once the ball leaves my hand I don’t have any more control over it,” Peterson said. “I think that was something very important for me. OK, they got the home runs, but let’s get back at it.”
The Rangers closed within one on Adolis Garcia’s run-scoring groundout in the sixth, aided by a Peterson throwing error earlier in the inning on a pickoff attempt at second base.
Seth Lugo and Adam Ottavino combined to record three outs apiece, however, before closer Edwin Diaz (17th save) fanned two in a scoreless ninth to seal the win for Peterson and the Mets.
“We were scheduled to pitch on six days [of rest Saturday], so I felt good body-wise. I was ready to pitch,” Peterson said. “It was just good to get a team win and get back on the right track.”
