NEW YORK — With David Peterson hunched over behind the mound after a two-out walk in the fifth inning, a degree of concern set in for the Mets.
Without warning, the Mets left-hander's vision had gotten blurry, and his stomach had begun to turn. He insisted to manager Carlos Mendoza that he could stay in the game. A walk and a hit batter to plate the Blue Jays' first run of the game sealed Peterson's fate in the game.
The Mets bullpen continued to pick up the pieces and aid a rocky offense and starting rotation that has seen only one start last more than 5⅓ innings. The combination of Max Kranick, Reed Garrett, A.J. Minter and Edwin Diaz shut the door with 4⅓ scoreless innings as the Mets scored a 2-1 victory over the Blue Jays in front of 40,132 fans on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.
"Man, this team is just pesky and just determined. They never give up," Minter said. "They're just resilient, and obviously the bullpen came up big this series and today, and that's what you want. The hitters are going to through streaks. They're gonna come up big, and it's just one of those games where you really need the bullpen to step up. That's what really matters."
A day after the Mets stormed back from two runs down to grab a walk-off 3-2 win on Saturday afternoon, they nursed a two-run lead from the third inning on after Pete Alonso knocked an RBI single and Brandon Nimmo added a sacrifice fly.
Sunday's win gave the Mets their first sweep of the season and a four-game win streak, which improved their record to 6-3. It was the Mets' third win of the season when they have scored three runs or fewer.
"That shows you that we're a good team and we continue to find ways to get the job done," Mendoza said. "That's what it's all about at this level — finding a way to come through, to get the job done. Whether we're not getting the big hit, we're creating traffic. We're getting guys on base, and if we continue to do that, we're going to be in a good place."
David Peterson OK after shaky moment
With five separate relievers having thrown 19 pitches or more in the first two games of the series, Mendoza was hoping for length from Peterson in his second start of the series.
The left-hander shuddered in the fifth inning. The dizzy spell set in during Guerrero's at-bat. Peterson stayed in the game.
The command continued to waver, and another walk to Anthony Santander loaded the bases and merited a visit from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. One more pitch and Peterson's day was done. He plunked Andres Gimenez to push across the Blue Jays' first run of the game and earn the hook.
"I wanted to stay in the game," Peterson said. "I told (Mendoza) I was good, and I felt confident in the left-on-left matchup to get Gimenez there and obviously lost control of the first one."
Peterson finished his second start of the season with one earned run allowed on three hits and five walks with three strikeouts, but nothing is wrong physically with Peterson.
"Feeling better. Got some food in me when I came in and the doctors looked at me and I'm not concerned," Peterson said. "It's not something I've ever had, so hopefully it's one and done and move on."
The green light for Peterson is optimal news for the Mets, who are already dealing with injuries to Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea in the starting rotation. Montas recently began his throwing progression after a mid-February high-grade lat strain, and Sean Manaea suffered a setback in his recovery from an oblique strain early last week and will be shut down for another two weeks.
Max Kranick, Mets bullpen shuts the door
Kranick is still getting used to his bullpen role, but no one would know based on his early performance with the Mets.
The 27-year-old right-hander came through in the biggest spot on Sunday, relieving Peterson and picking up a pop-up from Alejandro Kirk with the bases loaded to get out of the inning. Kranick recorded three straight outs in the sixth inning to sustain the 2-1 lead and earn the win.
"What's been really good to see is understanding the situation and not trying to do too much or throw too hard and basically executing pitches," Mendoza said. "It's not an easy thing to do when you're new to that role at the big-league level, and he's done that."
Kranick's lift came on the heels of his 30-pitch outing on Friday when he picked up six outs against seven batters in the eighth and ninth innings, sealing a 5-0 win. He has thrown seven scoreless innings this season, retiring 21 of the 22 batters he's faced.
Garrett picked it up there with a perfect seventh inning, including one strikeout, and Minter struck out two and worked around a single to toss a clean eighth. Diaz hit two batters but buckled down to pick up his second save in as many days.
In nine games, the Mets' bullpen has posted a 1.29 ERA (five earned runs in 35 innings) — the best mark in MLB.
"The whole bunch is throwing the ball with a ton of conviction," Alonso said. "They're doing an unreal job of executing right now. Petey did a great job, and then everybody behind him did a fantastic job as well. Huge kudos to the pitchers today on a tough day to hit."
