The New York Mets came up empty against former starter Freddy Peralta as the offense did almost nothing.
The New York Mets ran up against former starter Freddy Peralta last night and got shut down, as the Tampa Bay Rays chased Sean Manaea in the sixth to get a 6-2 win over New York.
Francisco Lindor got Peralta’s reunion start off to an explosive start by leading off the game with a solo homer. But Manaea gave the run right back as Yandy Diaz opened the game for the Rays with a double, and Junior Caminero singled him home to make it 1-1 after one.
The Rays took the lead with some small-ball in the third, with Victor Mesa Jr. starting the rally with a single, and Taylor Walls bunted him over to second. Ryan Vilade singled to right to score Mesa and give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.
The Rays broke the game open in the sixth by putting up a crooked number off Manaea, with Chandler Simpson singling and Nick Fortes doubling him home for the first run. Taylor Walls brought home Fortes with a sacrifice fly for the second, and Yandy Diaz blasted a solo homer for the third to give the Rays a 5-1 lead.
Peralta got his revenge against the Mets with one of his more effective starts since the trade, as he went six innings and gave up just the one run on the Lindor homer. He gave up just three hits as well to go with seven strikeouts, and his 74 pitch outing was far more economical than nearly all of his starts for New York.
The Mets got a run back via a walk-a-thon in the seventh as Garrett Cleavinger gave free passes to three runners, with reliever Tylor Wells walking in a run in to make it 5-2.
The Rays padded their lead with an insurance run in the eighth off Jefry Yan on a single by Mesa and a double from Walls, with Vilade driving home the run on a ground ball.
The Mets had nothing to offer offensively, as they literally couldn’t get a hit after the first inning, with Bo Bichette and Carson Benge hitting singles after the Lindor homer, only to get stranded. It was another pathetic offensive showing from a team that’s put up plenty of them this season, and Manaea has been backsliding lately as his ERA rose to 4.70 after he gave up five earned runs in 5-2/3 innings, which was a typical Peralta line when he was with the Mets. It was a bitter loss to the pitcher who was supposed to be the Mets ace during a season in which nearly everything has gone wrong.
