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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — Attempting to avoid elimination against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series on Friday, the New York Mets will turn to left-hander David Peterson for Game 5, manager Carlos Mendoza announced after the team’s 10-2 loss in Game 4 on Thursday.
Peterson, 29, will be making his first start of the postseason after four relief appearances, including 2⅓ innings in Game 1 of the series Sunday.
The Dodgers lead 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
“Facing an elimination game, he’s fully rested,” Mendoza said. “He’s been one of our starters — one of our best starters. We just feel like he’s going to give us the best chance.”
Peterson made 21 regular-season starts, compiling a 2.90 ERA but hasn’t thrown more than three innings in a game since the end of last month. He has had two relief outings during the playoffs of 40 or more pitches, including in his Game 1 appearance. He gave up three runs, four hits and a walk in that outing, a 9-0 defeat to L.A.
“It means a lot to be able to get the ball in a situation like this,” Peterson said. “To have the confidence of many and the team and the coaching staff is huge. … I feel ready to go, as deep as necessary. Looking forward to it. Ready to give every pitch I have.”
As expected, he’ll be opposed by Dodgers Game 1 starter Jack Flaherty. The veteran right-hander shut out the Mets over seven innings on two hits in his first start of the series. He’ll be on normal rest as well.
“We just felt that [Friday’s] the day,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So he’s lined up.”
The Mets are hoping for some better success against Flaherty, building off their at-bats in Game 4 — even though they lost. They had 10 hits and three walks in the game but managed only two runs.
The position they’re in is reminiscent of their season overall. New York earned a playoff berth on the last day of the season, then was down to its last out in the wild-card round against the Milwaukee Brewers before rallying. Now the Mets will have to do it again — winning the next three games — to keep their season alive.
“This group has responded so well to adversity all year,” first baseman Pete Alonso said. “The one word I can think for the 2024 Mets, besides Grimace, is resiliency. That’s just who we are.”
Shortstop Francisco Lindor urged his teammates to learn from the past two days — both losses — insisting they “execute” better when they get runners on.
“If you don’t have any belief, you shouldn’t be here,” he said. “You have to fight for what you want. It comes down to one day at a time and executing.”
Peterson could use a little better execution as well. Before being tagged for three runs in Game 1, he hadn’t given up a run all month. His best outing came against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the NL Division Series when he threw three scoreless innings.
The team could have chosen the strategy they used in that game, starting Kodai Senga and piggybacking Peterson but instead chose to let the five-year veteran start and pitch as long as he can. The Mets will need his best against the Dodgers who have scored 30 runs in the first four games of the series.
“I’m anticipating him making a regular start,” Mendoza said. “Our starters are one of the reasons we’re here, and we haven’t got length out of them. … And here we are now.”