MILWAUKEE — Freddy Peralta received an ovation before he took the mound Monday night, and the volume of cheers only increased as he began throwing pitches.
One hittable pitch after another.
The former Brewers ace returned to his major league roots and showed Wisconsinites what life in the Big Apple has been like for him.
In just his latest ugly performance, the right-hander got torched for seven runs in the Mets’ 8-3 loss at American Family Field.
Peralta pitched 5 ²/₃ innings and allowed eight hits and two walks (all seven runs against him were earned), marking the fourth time in his last eight starts he surrendered at least five earned runs.
Overall, he owns a 5.01 ERA this season.
“I just want to get through this,” Peralta said. “I still believe in myself. I know that I’m better than great and sometimes it’s not easy. But I have to understand as a player there’s some tough moments that we have got to get through. It’s not the first one or the last one, but I don’t want to stay like this.”
With the Mets’ season in disrepair, Peralta — who is set to hit free agency after the season — figures to be a goner by the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
But his spree of ugly outings isn’t doing any favors for the Mets as they attempt to maximize their trade return.
“He has good stuff,” interim manager Andy Green said. “We want to keep him on the attack, and I think that is the main message to him.”
The Mets surrendered prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to acquire Peralta and Tobias Myers last offseason.
Sproat, who has struggled to a 5.16 ERA in his first full season, will get a shot at his former team as the Brewers starting pitcher Tuesday.
Peralta isn’t the only underperforming pitcher in the Mets rotation: Kodai Senga was banished to the bullpen after a brutal stretch, and Sean Manaea has struggled to find consistency for much of the season.
Nolan McLean and Christian Scott have been strong positives for the club, and rookie Zach Thornton is showing early promise.
The left-hander is scheduled for his fourth major league start Tuesday.
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Peralta’s pummeling began with Brice Turang’s RBI double in the first. Garrett Mitchell’s RBI single later in the frame gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead.
The assault began after Peralta walked Jackson Chourio with one out.
“I have got to keep fighting to get through this,” Peralta said.
Cooper Pratt’s first major league homer, a solo blast in the second inning, pushed Peralta into a 3-0 hole.
Peralta threw a belt-high, 0-1 sweeper that Pratt hit over the center field fence.
The Mets scored an unearned run against Jacob Misiorowski in the third inning after Francisco Alvarez singled and Andrew Vaughn misplayed A.J. Ewing’s grounder for an error.
But Juan Soto’s double-play grounder to bring in the run was hardly enough.
Peralta recorded two quick outs in the third inning before Garrett Mitchell doubled and Vaughn hit a first-pitch fastball over the center field fence to give the Brewers a 5-1 lead.
“[Peralta] has always managed to win on the top half of the strike zone and above the strike zone,” Green said. “When he gets the fastball there, he does really well. He’s obviously up there trying to fill the zone up at that part of the zone and he wasn’t getting the pitches there.”
Joey Ortiz smashed reliever Xzavion Curry’s second pitch over the left field fence for a three-run homer that buried the Mets in an 8-1 hole.
Peralta was removed with two outs in the inning after walking Jake Bauers and surrendering a single to Pratt.
“I spent a long time here and it’s a place that I will always love,” said Peralta, who pitched eight seasons for the Brewers. “It’s always going to be in my heart. Both of my kids were born here, too. Milwaukee is always going to mean something for me.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
