Peterson, McCann Power Mets to Series Win Over Phillies

METS 5 - PHILLIES 1 

Behind a stellar outing for second year starting pitcher David Peterson, and a breakout performance at the dish by catcher James McCann, the Mets earned their first series win of the year with a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. 

The Mets turn to Jacob deGrom tomorrow afternoon at noon with a chance to sweep the series. Maybe they'll score some runs for him this time? 

As for the lefty Peterson, he was every bit as good as deGrom would be on most nights. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, and would have had a perfect game going were it not for Dom Smith dropping a fly ball by J.T. Realmuto in the third inning. 

Peterson overpowered the Phillies lineup by mixing his stuff, and striking out 10 in the process. It was a heck of a response from the 25-year old out of Denver, Colorado, who just a week ago was shelled by this same Phillies lineup for six runs over four innings in a frustrating 8-2 Mets loss. 

It was a totally different story tonight. 

Outside of Jean Segura, who hit a solo homer off of Peterson in the fifth, the Phillies had no answer. Only one other player got a hit the entire night for Philadelphia and that was Rhys Hoskins. 

Meanwhile, the Mets didn't make things easy for Peterson, who had to tip-toe with a 2-1 lead for his entire outing. The Mets left 10 men on base and were 1-for-6 with RISP. 

Even with that, Brandon Nimmo (3-for-5, run scored) and Dom Smith (3-for-5, RBI) remain hot. Smith even drove in Nimmo with the games first run on a single in the bottom of the first to make it 1-0. 

The one positive you can take from the Mets victory was that both Francisco Lindor and James McCann showed signs of life with the bat. Lindor had a pair of hits and scored two runs, while McCann was 3-for-4, including a mammoth two-run homer in the eighth that broke the game wide open. 

The Mets bullpen? Phenomenal. The combination of Jeurys Familia, Aaron Loup and Edwin Diaz combined to hold the Philles to just two base runners in the final three innings of the game. Diaz even pitched a quick and quiet ninth inning to solidify the victory. 

At 5-3, the Mets -- believe it or not -- find themselves in first in the NL East. 

Did I mention, they need to score for deGrom on Thursday?