PHILADELPHIA — Freddy Peralta became Freddy Krueger on Saturday, mortifying anyone wearing a Mets uniform but scaring exactly nobody he faced.
In this chapter of Nightmare on Broad Street, Freddy and the Mets were dead by the third inning in a brutal 15-3 loss to the Phillies.
Peralta, in his worst career performance, allowed 10 earned runs on 10 hits and one walk over 2 ²/₃ innings.
The alleged Mets ace saw his ERA inflate to 4.83, even behind Sean Manaea (4.64) in this disappointing Mets rotation. David Peterson and his 5.91 ERA are headed to the mound for Sunday night’s series finale.
It was a night Kyle Schwarber blasted three homers (including two in one inning) and Bryce Harper hit for the cycle. The good news for the Mets is it counts as only one loss.
But Peralta’s woes can’t be discounted.
The right-hander was only two starts removed from allowing six earned runs in a loss to the Cardinals and he wasn’t particularly sharp last Sunday, when he lasted only five innings against the Braves (three of the four runs he allowed in that start were unearned).
Simply, Peralta is entering “bust” territory after arriving to Queens last winter as the centerpiece of a trade that sent Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to Milwaukee. The Mets also received Tobias Myers in the deal.
Peralta, in his walk year, certainly isn’t enhancing his free-agent value.
Peralta got tagged early, allowing a two-out homer to Harper in the first that gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
J.T. Realmuto and Justin Crawford each delivered an RBI double in the second, extending the Phillies’ lead to 3-0. Alec Bohm’s leadoff single to right — the Phillies won a replay reversal on a ball Eric Wagaman trapped — started the rally.
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Peralta never survived the third. Schwarber homered leading off the inning and another run scored when Marcus Semien threw away Brandon Marsh’s grounder following Harper’s double.
Bryson Stott followed with a fly to left that Juan Soto had difficulty tracking. The ball landed behind Soto at the base of the fence for an RBI double, widening the Mets’ deficit to 6-0.
The Phillies weren’t nearly finished in the inning. After Realmuto doubled in another run and Peralta recorded the second out, Crawford walked and Trea Turner’s RBI single knocked out Peralta. Enter Cionel Pérez, who served up a blast to Schwarber that buried the Mets in an 11-0 hole. Schwarber became the fourth player in Phillies history with a two-homer inning.
Mark Vientos homered in the fourth to get the Mets on the scoreboard. The homer was Vientos’ ninth this season.
Harper’s two-run triple in the fifth was his last piece to the cycle — he became the 10th player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.
Carson Benge blasted a two-run homer in the seventh that brought the Mets to within 13-3.
Christopher Sánchez allowed one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk over six innings. The left-hander (who had a scoreless streak of 50 ²/₃ innings this season) lowered his ERA to 1.80. This was his 23rd straight start in this ballpark allowing two earned runs or fewer.
Myers surrendered a two-run homer to Schwarber in the seventh inning. The blast gave Schwarber a three-homer game for the fifth time in his career.
