ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Words that haven’t been uttered much all season: This was Freddy Peralta’s night.
Of course, the right-hander didn’t get to pitch against the Mets when he belonged to the Mets, and maybe that was a factor Tuesday, but Peralta’s results were impressive regardless.
Francisco Lindor managed a big swing against his former teammate leading off the game, and the Mets could have essentially shown themselves to the exit from there in a 6-2 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.
“I saw some of the guys and they were smiling when they saw me, but I tried to stay focused and pitch,” Peralta said after retiring the final 13 batters he faced.
Too often, he was four- or five-inning Freddy with the Mets — who traded Peralta to the Rays for three prospects Aug. 3 — but on this night Peralta lasted through the sixth, exiting after throwing just 74 pitches in a remarkably economical start.
He allowed one earned run on three hits with seven strikeouts (his highest total since May 23).
“After that [first] inning, we didn’t have a ton of good swings,” interim manager Andy Green said. “I thought Juan [Soto] had two really good swings off him to the track both times. [Francisco Alvarez] had a good swing to second base. Outside of that, we didn’t do much.”
Coupled with the six scoreless innings the Rays received from Peralta against the Tigers in his previous outing, it might be fair to suggest the veteran pitcher is fixed.
He has a 3.03 ERA in his past five starts, following a clunker in his Rays debut. Peralta, who was the Mets’ offseason pitching prize after arriving in a trade from Milwaukee, had a 4.99 ERA during his Queens tenure.
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“Freddy is a tough pitcher,” Lindor said. “He’s a really good pitcher. Sometimes the hitters win. Sometimes the pitcher wins, and today hats off to him.”
Sean Manaea had a fourth straight uninspiring start, following his midseason resurgence. The left-hander surrendered five earned runs on 11 hits and one walk over 5 ²/₃ innings and is again leaving the Mets to wonder if he’s part of next year’s equation. Manaea over those four starts has a 7.23 ERA and allowed 30 hits in 23 ²/₃ innings.
“They have been terrible,” Manaea said of his past four starts. “I am getting some length out there, but ultimately just not any quality, so I don’t know what I have really got to do, but I have got to figure something out and try to salvage this season.”
Lindor greeted Peralta with a blast to right field leading off the game. The homer was Lindor’s 15th this season. The Mets put further pressure on Peralta with singles by Bo Bichette and Carson Benge, but the right-hander escaped further harm by striking out Jared Young and retiring Brett Baty.
Junior Caminero’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning tied it 1-1 after Yandy Díaz’s leadoff double.
Ryan Vilade’s RBI single in the third gave the Rays a 2-1 lead. Lindor’s fielding error extended the inning, but Manaea retired Jorge Mateo for the final out. Manaea allowed two hits and a walk in the frame.
Manaea allowed an RBI double to Nick Fortes in the sixth that increased the Mets deficit to 3-1. Chandler Simpson opened the inning with a single. Taylor Walls brought in another run with a sacrifice fly before Díaz’s homer to left extended the Rays lead to 5-1.
Lindor drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the seventh, but the Mets missed their big opportunity when Tyler Wells got Soto to pop out.
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“I liked the swing from [Lindor] at the start of the game for us,” Green said. “After that, [Peralta] got his fastball up and in to our left-handed hitters and got us chasing quite a few change-ups. He threw a nice change-up off the plate most of the day.”
