David Peterson recorded the final out of the eighth inning, lugged an arm that had thrown 97 pitches to the dugout and did not glance at his manager.
Carlos Mendoza huddled with his pitching coaches, Jeremy Hefner and Desi Druschel, and discussed how far they believed the lefty could be pushed. Mendoza glanced at Peterson, who “didn’t want to give me a look,” Mendoza said, as if an acknowledgment of the moment might ruin the moment.
But this moment — on the precipice of what in 2025 surely feels like history, given its scarcity — demanded a conversation. Mendoza soon after met with Peterson in the tunnel that leads out of the dugout and had a short chat.
“Let me finish it,” Peterson told him.
“All right,” Mendoza said. “It’s yours.”
A complete-game shutout — the first of his career — was Peterson’s on Wednesday, when he shut down the Nationals, tested his manager and saved his bullpen in a 5-0 victory at Citi Field.
“It’s awesome. You dream of doing stuff like this,” Peterson said after becoming the first Met to throw a complete game since Luis Severino on Aug. 17 of last year and the first Mets lefty to toss a complete-game shutout since Steven Matz on July 27, 2019.
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Yes: 2019.
“Things that happen once every six years are pretty cool,” said Brandon Nimmo, who led the offense with two home runs.
A complete-game shutout in 2025 requires an efficient pitcher who is able to pitch to contact, with the type of stuff that can get himself out of trouble and the type of mentality that stares down that trouble.
Peterson, who has been one of the better pitchers in baseball since returning from hip surgery about a year ago, checked off all the boxes.
“It’s been fun to see him grow up in front of my eyes,” Nimmo said after a fifth straight win for the Mets (44-24).
It requires a manager who is willing to listen to his players, even if the conversations and decisions are not quite obvious.
Of course Mendoza wants to protect Peterson, who shrunk his ERA to 2.49 and is a massive piece of a club that has World Series aspirations.
So with 97 pitches on the odometer, Mendoza told Peterson he could have the ninth — but also ensured Ryne Stanek was warmed up in the bullpen. He conferred with Luis Torrens and told the catcher that Peterson had “eight or nine pitches” to record the final three outs, or else Stanek would be summoned.
“So I went out there with a plan to get a quick ninth,” Torrens said simply, and Peterson only needed nine pitches to get Amed Rosario to line out, James Wood to strike out and Andrés Chaparro to ground out.
Peterson pumped his fist, smiled a wide smile and gave Torrens a hug. Another hug was soon due to Mendoza.
No one quite tests Mendoza like Peterson, who is sure of himself, confident and a bulldog who does not like to be pulled.
“You don’t see this too often, especially with pitch counts and max efforts,” Mendoza said after Peterson became the fourth pitcher in the majors this year to throw a shutout without allowing a walk. “Seeing a performance like that nowadays, it’s something that we don’t take for granted. You just have to enjoy it.”
Peterson was excellent over those nine innings in which he let up six hits. He only struck out six, pitching to contact that was driven into the ground, but seemed to save the strikeouts for the moments they were required.
He twice found himself in danger, the first time in a seventh in which he bailed himself out.
Rosario and Wood came up with back-to-back singles to begin the frame. As if a flip were switched — avoid contact, keep the runners right there — Peterson used nasty sliders to strike out Chaparro and Nathaniel Lowe before Alex Call grounded out.
He needed some help in the eighth. After a Luis García Jr. double, Jacob Young shot a single to a just-subbed-in Tyrone Taylor in center field, who came off the bench warm. Taylor fired a one-hopper to Torrens, who caught the ball a few feet in front of the plate and then leapt backward, applying a tag just before García’s hand touched the plate.
“It’s something I couldn’t have done without Luis and defense and obviously the offense putting up runs,” Peterson said. “It’s just a huge team effort. This is all theirs as well.”