Juan Soto led off the fifth inning by taking a 1-2 slider from Peterson over the right-center-field fence to make the score 6-1. The lefty got one more out before walking Gleyber Torres and Alex Verdugo. The Mets then brought in right-hander Dedniel Nuñez (1-0) to face J.D. Davis.

The newly-minted Yankee grounded into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.

Peterson limited the damage to only one earned run on three hits and struck out eight, but five walks and two hit batters pushed his pitch count up to a point where the Mets had to take him out after 4 1/3.

It left a lot of ground for a shorthanded bullpen to cover, but the Mets (38-39) gave the relief group some breathing room with three runs in the eighth.

Jeff McNeil and Bader both singled off former Mets right-hander Phil Bickford and stole second. With one out, Torres booted a ground ball by Nimmo into right field. Torres now leads all second baseman with 12 errors.

The Yankees went to Michael Tonkin, who beat Bickford for the last spot in the Mets’ opening day bullpen this year.

J.D. Martinez hit an RBI double over the head of Judge in center field. A fly ball by Pete Alonso scored another one, making it 9-1 in favor of the Mets.

Those runs ultimately proved to be crucial.

©2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.