Freddy Peralta continued his blisteringly hot April on the mound and also continued to not be rewarded for it.
The New York Mets ace spoke openly about his frustration, their bullpen blew his sterling start in their 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals on Thursday at Citi Field.
Peralta tossed six innings of four-hit, three-run ball, while allowing just one earned run though he did walk three. Peralta exited with the Mets leading 4-3 and was in line to snap his three-game losing streak before Luke Weaver served up a go-ahead, two-run home run to C.J. Abrams in the eighth inning.
Peralta did drop his ERA to 3.52, and his April ERA dipped to 2.97 in 56 2/3 innings, even though the Mets went 1-5 in his six outings.
Freddy Peralta: ‘Things are not Going’ the Mets’ Way Right now
The Mets have the worst record in baseball (10-21), despite their obviously high payroll, and have dropped 17 of 20 games after their reasonable 7-4 start.
But their starting pitching has been superb, since Clay Holmes (1.75 ERA), Nolan McLean (2.55) and Peralta each has a sub-4 ERA, and New York’s team ERA ranks 15th (4.17) in the majors. That only adds to the angst in the Mets clubhouse right now.
“A little frustrating, because we all want to win,” Peralta said. “We’ve been putting in the work for it every day to win, but this game is really hard, and things are really not going our way right now.”
New York’s offense has been the culprit, since it is 29th in the majors in runs scored (106) only ahead of the also-struggling San Francisco Giants. But Peralta made sure not to point too many fingers at the hitters, even though the Mets have only scored 13 runs in his six April outings.
“We are all preparing the right way here,” Peralta said. “Unfortunately, things are not going our way, but we are preparing to win some games and we are trying hard.”
Carlos Mendoza is Still the Mets’ Manager
The Mets watched the also-struggling, big-market clubs, the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies, fire their managers Alex Cora and Rob Thomson earlier this week.
Mendoza, however, continues to be employed even despite the Mets’ struggles. But if they don’t turn things around in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels, the Mets could end up repeating dubious history by flying a manager across the country then firing him — which they did to Willie Randolph back in 2008.
Obviously, Mendoza isn’t swinging the bat for his slumping club. He didn’t instruct closer Devin Williams to have an 8.00 ERA or Weaver to pitch to a 6.00 ERA or for David Peterson to start 0-4 with a ghastly 6.53 ERA.
But it’s surprising David Stearns and Mets brass did not give Mets fans their pound of flesh by firing Mendoza after another late-inning loss Thursday — even despite the vote of confidence that often becomes the kiss of death for coaches/managers.
New York is 2-7 in one-run games, which typically falls on the manager. It’s safe to say Mendoza won’t be able to hold off the guillotine much longer.
Mets Pitcher Freddy Peralta Sounds Off on Frustrations After Loss to Nationals