David Peterson's rough season continues as Mets drop 5th consecutive game in loss to Reds

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on May 26, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — New Yorkers were riding high Tuesday after the Knicks clinched a spot in the NBA Finals, and after days of rain and humidity, the clouds cleared and the sun came out.

Leave it to the Mets to kill the vibes.

The Mets lost their fifth straight game, this one by a 7-2 score to the Cincinnati Reds, and would have been shut out had it not been for Juan Soto’s two-run blast off Chase Burns in the bottom of the sixth. The Reds (29-25) took the series. The Mets (22-33) have a chance to salvage it Wednesday afternoon before a badly-needed off day.

Salvaging the season may be a little more difficult.

Left-hander David Peterson was hit hard right from the start, with the Reds scoring twice in the first inning. Peterson deftly got out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs by getting Blake Dunn to ground into a 1-2-3 double play, then dialing another grounder for Elly De La Cruz. After retiring the side in order in the third, he looked to be turning a corner.

Instead, he hit a wall.

Peterson (3-5) gave up three runs in the fourth and one in the sixth before getting an out.

It’s been a puzzling season for Peterson. His ERA rose to 6.41 after his first four starts, so the Mets started intermittently using him behind an opener. But with where they are in the schedule, and with where the bullpen is at the moment, it’s not something they could do last his last time out. He pitched well enough to earn another start in a win over the Washington Nationals last week, but he couldn’t follow up on it.

Peterson allowed six earned runs on a career-worst 11 hits, walking three and striking out four. He owns a 5.57 ERA.

There was no benefit of a breather after long innings. Burns (7-1) blanked the Mets over the first 5 1/3 innings before giving up a single to Bo Bichette and a home run to Soto. Until the sixth, Burns had faced only three over the minimum, walking Jared Young in the second inning, giving up a double to Luis Torrens in the third, and walking Brett Baty to lead off the fifth.

Marcus Semien, MJ Melendez and Torrens then went down in order to end the inning.

A.J. Ewing lined a single to right field after Soto’s home run, but left-hander Sam Moll came on in relief of Burns and got pinch-hitter Mark Vientos to ground into a double play.

The at-bats were somewhat uninspiring. There was energy coming from Ewing and his fellow rookie outfielder, Carson Benge, but not enough. The ballpark eventually lost its energy too. Fans barely even bothered to boo when left-hander Sean Manaea gave up a run in the top of the eighth.

The Mets are out of answers, out of pitchers, and nearly out of productive hitters. At least New York has the Knicks.