Freddy Peralta was met with an ovation upon returning to Milwaukee on Monday night, but his performance on the mound quickly turned into a difficult outing for the New York Mets. The right-hander surrendered seven runs on eight hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings in the Mets' 8-3 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field. This marked the fourth time in Peralta's last eight starts that he has allowed at least five earned runs, contributing to his season ERA of 5.01.
With the Mets' season struggling, Peralta, who is slated to become a free agent after the season, is a potential trade candidate before the Aug. 3 deadline. However, his recent pitching performances may not bolster the Mets' efforts to maximize any return in a trade. The Mets acquired Peralta and Tobias Myers last offseason, trading away prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams.
Sproat, who has a 5.16 ERA in his first full season, is scheduled to start for the Brewers on Tuesday against his former team. Peralta's struggles are not isolated within the Mets' pitching rotation. Kodai Senga was recently moved to the bullpen after a difficult stretch, and Sean Manaea has faced consistency issues throughout the season. On a more positive note for the Mets, Nolan McLean and Christian Scott have shown strong performances, and rookie Zack Thornton is demonstrating early promise.
The Brewers established an early lead against Peralta. Brice Turang's RBI double in the first inning opened the scoring, and Garrett Mitchell's RBI single later in the frame extended the lead to 2-0. The assault continued when Cooper Pratt hit his first major league home run, a solo blast in the second inning, pushing Peralta's deficit to 3-0.
The Mets managed to score an unearned run in the third inning following an error by Andrew Vaughn on A.J. Ewing's grounder after Francisco Alvarez had singled. However, the Brewers responded decisively. After recording two quick outs in the third, Peralta allowed a double to Garrett Mitchell, followed by a home run from Vaughn that put the Brewers ahead 5-1.
Further compounding the Mets' difficulties, Joey Ortiz hit a three-run homer off reliever Xzavion Curry, extending the Brewers' lead to 8-1. Peralta was removed from the game with two outs in the third inning after issuing a walk to Jake Bauers and allowing a single to Pratt.