ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A winning streak built on strong pitching and just enough offense expired Friday night as the Mets’ bats went silent and the bullpen had a rare letdown.
Sure, there was a big hit from Jonathan Villar, but a two-run homer alone can’t be expected to carry a team. Gradually, the Mets withered, and their seven-game winning streak was declared dead on Brett Phillips’ walk-off RBI single against Aaron Loup in a 3-2 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Miguel Castro loaded the bases in the ninth before the lefty Loup entered to retire pinch-hitter Joey Wendle for the second out. Phillips ended it with a single to right field.
“We’re not going to look at this as a big fail,” manager Luis Rojas said. “It’s just another one of those adversities we didn’t win this time.”
David Peterson had his best performance of the season, taking a shutout into the eighth before the Rays jumped on him for two runs. Manuel Margot’s RBI double against Trevor May with two outs in the inning tied it 2-2, leaving Peterson with a no-decision.
Mike Zunino launched a homer to left field leading off the inning, snapping a streak of 17 straight batters retired by Peterson. Kevin Padlo followed with a double, putting the tying run in scoring position. After Peterson rebounded to strike out Phillips, the right-hander May entered to retire Randy Arozarena. But Margot’s shot along the third-base line brought in the run.
“Our biggest target in the inning was Arozarena,” Rojas said, when asked if he considered removing Peterson before Padlo’s at-bat. “We felt comfortable with Peterson and his pitch count and the previous matchups he had against those three batters. We were thinking of the top of the order and we knew they had some guys that could come in and pinch hit … we wanted to keep it the same, Petey throwing well and the success he already had against the bottom of the order.”
The Mets had a shot to take the lead in the ninth after Kevin Pillar singled against the shift and Villar reached on Willy Adames’ error, but James McCann was retired on a weak grounder to first base on the first pitch he saw from Pete Fairbanks.
Tyler Glasnow and the Rays bullpen limited the Mets — who were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position — to six hits.
Peterson, over 7 ¹/₃ innings, allowed only four hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. He departed after 93 pitches. The outing was easily his longest of the season, surpassing a pair of six-inning starts against the Phillies and Red Sox.
Glasnow retired 14 straight batters to begin the game before Pillar reached on an infield single with two outs in the fifth. Villar followed with a shot into the right-field seats for his second homer of the season.
The Mets turned in a strong defensive performance behind Peterson. In the third, Villar’s diving stop near the third-base line and throw to first (scooped by Pete Alonso) denied Arozarena a leadoff hit. In the fourth, Jose Paraza raced into shallow right field — he was shifted in the other direction — and with his back to the infield, caught Adames’ pop up.
Peterson escaped trouble in a 30-pitch second inning by striking out Padlo and Phillips in succession after walking Adames and Zunino to load the bases. Yandy Diaz had doubled leading off the inning.
Margot singled against Peterson in the first inning, but was thrown out by McCann attempting to steal second. He was the fifth runner thrown out by McCann in 15 attempts to steal against him this season.
“After that second inning we threw a lot of fastballs to them for the majority of the later innings,” Peterson said. “I think having your fastball command, it all starts with the fastball — being able to throw that pitch for a strike and having confidence in that pitch.”
