Go ahead and give David Peterson the title of ace. He deserves it as much as Kodai Senga.
The left-handed Peterson became the first lefty since Steven Matz in 2019 to toss a complete-game shutout on Wednesday night at Citi Field, and the third Mets’ starter since Jacob deGrom in 2021 and Luis Severino last August.
Brandon Nimmo hit two home runs and Juan Soto hit his second in as many nights, but it was Peterson who was the star of the show, shutting out the Washington Nationals in a 5-0 win.
“You dream of doing stuff like this,” Peterson said. “We try and go as deep as we can in the game, but to be able to go all nine was something very special, and something I couldn’t have done that without [catcher Luis Torrens], the defense and obviously the offense putting up runs. It’s just a huge team effort, so this is all of theirs as well.”
The Amazin’s took the series with their fifth straight win, and moved to 26-7 at home, furthering their league-best home record.If ever there was a home-field advantage, the Mets (44-24) are certainly benefiting from it. It’s almost tough to remember that the Mets lost a game during the last homestand, and even tougher to remember the last time Peterson lost at home.
You’d have to go all the way back to September to find that. His last home loss came against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 20, only his third of last season. Peterson seems to be part of that advantage. The Mets are 8-0 this year when he starts at Citi Field, the second-longest season-opening streak in history, and only three shy from tying David Cone’s 11-0 home start to the 1989 campaign.
When manager Carlos Mendoza told Peterson to go out and finish the game, the crowd of 40,681 were as loud as they’ve been since last fall.
“Mendy, being able to give me that opportunity to go finish, it was huge,” Peterson said. “Just hearing the crowd when I came back out, and hearing them get louder after every out was very special. They brought it all year, and it’s fun playing at home.”
The left-hander worked quickly and efficiently, retiring the first seven hitters he faced before Luis Garcia Jr. hit a single up the center. The Nats never had a chance. All together, Peterson scattered five singles and a double over eight innings, striking out five. He didn’t allow a single walk.
“You don’t see this too often, especially with pitch counts everything. It’s max effort,” Mendoza said. “Seeing a performance like that nowadays is something that we don’t take for granted. You just have to enjoy it as the game progresses.”
Mendoza isn’t wrong; complete games are increasingly more rare in today’s game. A six-inning outing is stellar, a five-inning outing is great. Nine? Front offices would scoff, knowing nine could blow up a pitch count. Last season, there were 20 complete games thrown, 16 of which were shutouts.
Peterson became the seventh player in baseball to go throw nine scoreless innings in 2025.
“It’s the first complete game I’ve caught,” Torrens said.
Peterson gave up back-to-back singles to start the seventh, then retired the next three hitters. In the eighth, he gave up a one-out double to Luis Garcia Jr. Jacob Young then singled to shallow center and for a moment, it looked like the shutout bid was over.
Center fielder Tyrone Taylor, who had been inserted for defense at the start of the inning, came charging in and threw a strike to Torrens at home, who laid down a perfect tag on Garcia. Washington challenged the call saying Torrens blocked the plate, but it was upheld. Garcia was out, and Peterson retired C.J. Abrams for the third out.
“I tried to back it up, so I had a perfect view of Louie catching the ball, coming across and getting a tag on him,” Peterson said. “I kind of knew where that review was going to end up based on the view that I had, but it was pretty special to watch it from behind the plate and see it all happen.”
Mendoza conferred with the pitching coaches as Peterson returned to the dugout. He didn’t say much, which Mendoza took to mean he wanted to go back out for the ninth. But at 6-foot-6, Peterson can’t exactly hide from anyone.
“I know I can’t make myself invisible,” he said.
Ryne Stanek was getting ready to go in the bullpen as Peterson plead his case with Mendoza, telling him he had the energy and focus needed to finish the game. The adrenaline was pumping and the manager could see it.
“I called him down in the tunnel and I said, ‘Man, this is a tough one,’” Mendoza said. “He was like, ‘Let me finish it, let me finish.’ I was like, ‘You’ve only got a few pitches here.”
Peterson again asked to finish the game.
“Alright, it’s yours,” Mendoza said.
He retired the side in order in the ninth, finishing with 106 pitches.
This was something that was unthinkable just two years ago when Peterson had such a bad season that he was demoted to Triple-A. The hip surgery he underwent in the fall of 2023 changed everything for him, allowing him to reach his true potential as a pitcher.
The Mets, who drafted him in the first round in 2017 from Oregon, always believed he would get here. So too did Mendoza, even when he was still coaching in the Bronx.
“Honestly, I always liked him when I was on the other side,” Mendoza said. “I felt like we faced him a lot, and he always had success. I was always in the dugout watching, going, ‘Man, this is a pretty good lefty here.’”
The “big boys” at the top of the order, as Mendoza typically refers to them, did the most damage. Pete Alonso hit an RBI double off right-hander Jake Irvin in the first inning to put the Mets on the board, and Soto made it 3-0 with a two-out, two-run homer in the third. Nimmo hit an opposite-field shot off Irvin (5-3) in the seventh, and one to right field off Jackson Rutledge in the seventh.
As nice as it was for him to hit those two long balls, seeing Peterson throw the ball the way he did was the highlight of Nimmo’s night.
“That’s a good lineup over there too, that he did it against,” Nimmo said. “I just, I couldn’t be more proud of him. It’s come full circle. He’s got so much confidence and he knows he’s nasty. It’s fun to go out there and play behind him.”
Originally Published: June 11, 2025 at 9:40 PM EDT