The Arizona Diamondbacks are hoping their much-needed offensive outburst on Wednesday is a sign of things to come.
The New York Mets are hoping David Peterson’s struggles aren’t a harbinger of rotation-depth issues.
The Diamondbacks and Mets will each be looking to win a series Thursday night, when Arizona visits New York in the finale of the three-game set.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is slated to start for the Diamondbacks against Mets right-hander Nolan McLean (1-0, 2.61) in a rematch of the pitchers who started the Venezuela-Team USA World Baseball Classic championship game last month.
Corbin Carroll and Jorge Barrosa each had two-run doubles Wednesday for the Diamondbacks, who rolled to a 7-2 win.
The seven runs were the most for the Diamondbacks since a 7-5 win over Detroit on March 31 and two runs shy of their season high set in a 9-6 win over the Tigers on March 30.
Arizona went 3-3 in its previous six games entering Wednesday despite scoring just 14 runs in that stretch. Diamondbacks starters posted a 1.95 ERA in the six games.
The Diamondbacks wasted no time supporting Ryne Nelson on Wednesday, when Corbin doubled with one out in the first and scored on Gabriel Moreno’s sacrifice fly. Arizona added four runs off Peterson in the second, when Carroll’s two-RBI double was sandwiched by Ketel Marte’s run-scoring single and Geraldo Perdomo’s sacrifice fly.
“Offensively, we’ve been really grinding,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “And I think we just set a really good tone that we put runners on, we executed, scored (runs). It kind of gives you a little bit of good feeling to know that you stepped on the field and you’re able to contribute offensively.”
The result snapped a four-game winning streak for the Mets, who outscored the Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants 28-8 during the surge. New York hadn’t lost since April 2, when Peterson gave up six runs (five earned) over 4 1/3 innings before Sean Manaea threw the final 3 2/3 frames in a 7-2 loss to the Giants.
Peterson and Manaea covered all nine innings again on Wednesday. Peterson allowed five runs in five frames, and Manaea surrendered Barrosa’s two-run hit in the eighth.
The latest long-relief outing by Manaea — who served as a starter in 44 of his 47 appearances for the Mets the previous two seasons but has displayed diminished velocity this year– came hours after manager Carlos Mendoza said New York did not plan to utilize a sixth starter during its current stretch of nine games in as many days.
Later Wednesday, Mendoza said the Mets weren’t considering a change in the rotation. Peterson has a 6.14 ERA through three starts while fellow starters McLean, Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta and Kodai Senga have compiled a 3.08 ERA in nine starts.
“If he’s healthy, which he is, there’s no concern.” Mendoza said, referring to Peterson. “He’s too good of a pitcher. He’s been our guy. We’ve just got to make a couple of adjustments there.”
Rodriguez didn’t factor into the decision despite authoring a second straight stellar outing on Friday, when he allowed four hits over seven innings in the Diamondbacks’ 2-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
McLean earned a win on Friday after giving up two runs (one earned) over 5 1/3 innings in the Mets’ 10-3 victory over the Giants.
Rodriguez is 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA in four career starts against the Mets. McLean has never opposed the Diamondbacks.
Neither pitcher got a decision in Venezuela’s 3-2 win in the WBC title game on March 17, when Rodriguez gave up one hit over 4 1/3 scoreless innings and McLean allowed two runs over 4 2/3 frames for Team USA.
–Field Level Media
