ST. LOUIS -- After an hour-plus rain delay pushed back first pitch on Wednesday afternoon, Freddy Peralta gave the Mets the type of outing they needed from the front of their rotation.
Peralta was sharp through 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits and two walks to go with seven strikeouts before exiting the Mets’ eventual 2-1 walk-off loss in 11 innings at Busch Stadium.
For a Mets team still searching for offensive consistency early in the season, Peralta, who left with a 1-0 lead on Juan Soto’s first homer of the season, once again provided stability and swing-and-miss stuff from the outset.
“He was really good,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I thought the changeup usage was pretty impressive. A pitch that in his first outing, he didn’t use until like the fourth inning, and today he went right to it ... got swing and misses, which made the fastball play a lot more. Overall he was solid.”
The right-hander came out attacking, striking out two batters in the first inning with his four-seam fastball before settling into a rhythm. Peralta retired 11 straight hitters at one point and needed just 51 pitches to get through four scoreless innings.
“I wasn’t thinking too much, just being myself,” Peralta said. “Attacking and trying to get quick outs.”
Peralta’s pitch mix kept St. Louis off balance throughout. He recorded three strikeouts on his fastball, three on his changeup and another on a curveball, finishing with 15 whiffs across 92 pitches. Peralta topped out at 96.2 mph with the four-seamer, but he leaned more heavily on his changeup early, a shift from his season debut.
“I have a lot of trust in that pitch,” Peralta said. “We wanted to use it today.”
The most significant trouble came in the fifth inning. After issuing his first walk of the game and allowing a single, Peralta faced runners on second and third with one out in a scoreless game. He responded by striking out Pedro Pagés on a curveball in the dirt before getting Victor Scott II to ground out, stranding both runners and preserving the 0-0 tie.
Peralta returned for the sixth but ran into traffic, allowing a leadoff single and issuing a walk before striking out Alec Burleson. He exited with runners on first and second and one out, with Huascar Brazobán entering in relief. One of those inherited runners later scored, leaving Peralta charged with one run.
“As a pitcher, I always want to compete and stay in the game,” Peralta said. “But it was the right move there.”
Peralta finished with 92 pitches, 54 for strikes, and through two starts, he has continued to show the swing-and-miss ability (14 strikeouts) and consistency the Mets were counting on when they acquired him in an offseason trade with the Brewers to anchor the rotation.