Mets Notebook: Ryan Helsley’s debut, Alonso waking up, Peterson

As we have detailed heavily, the New York Mets, as they stand on August 1, are a drastically different team from where they were just a few days ago.

Since the All-Star break, the Mets have won seven straight games, been swept, and had one of the busiest trade deadlines in the game.

In the process, the front office picked up Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers, Ryan Helsley, and Cedric Mullins, all of whom were officially activated prior to Friday’s series-opening loss to the San Francisco Giants. The loss pushed their losing streak to four, as for the moment, New York finds itself a half-game behind Philadelphia for the National League East crown.

Helsley stole the show, entering in a tie game in the top of the ninth inning. As the lights faded to black, the opening riff of “Hells Bells” was just the opening act for a capacity crowd of 42,777. With Helsley’s AC/DC show joining Edwin Diaz’s widely chronicled “Narco” spectacle, the Mets can now comfortably boast the only bullpen with two cinematic walk-out experiences.

Helsley’s first customer, Grant McCray, was retired on just three pitches, all of which were over 100 mph.

In his Mets debut, the 31-year-old right-hander gave up a pair of hits but struck out the side in a scoreless ninth.

“He was pretty good,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “You’ve got to get ready for 100 [mph] and then, before you know it, he’s dropping that breaking ball right there for strikes, for chases, it’s a pretty tough at-bat. That’s a pretty elite arm right there.”

Helsley, who had possibly the best season of any closer in baseball last year with St. Louis, was brought to Queens to be the set-up man to Edwin Diaz. This season, his ERA sits at 2.92 through 37 innings.

After Helsley’s clean ninth, the Mets went down in order in the bottom half. In the top of the 10th, San Francisco broke through against Diaz, as former-Met Dom Smith delivered a go-ahead single to bring home the ghost runner.

Despite loading the bases in the bottom of the 10th, Randy Rodriguez blew triple-digits of his own past Ronny Mauricio to wrap things up for a 4-3 Giants victory. The loss was Diaz’s first of the season.

Mullins also made his Mets debut, pinch-hitting for Tyrone Taylor in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was unclear to Mendoza before the game if Mullins would be available for the contest, hence the late entrance.

In his lone at-bat, the newest Met popped out to third base to send the game to extras. He also logged an inning in center field. Nonetheless, Mendoza views Mullins as a quality addition to the club.

“I’ve watched this guy play for a lot of years,” Mendoza said pregame. “Defensively, offensively, whether it’s hitting for power, running the bases, there’s a lot that goes behind the numbers that he does well. Another really good player that we’re adding to what is already a pretty strong position player group.”

Polar Bear breaks the ice

Much of the Mets’ four-game skid can be chalked up to a lack of offense, headlined by slow production from the top four in their lineup.

Entering play Friday, Pete Alonso was in the midst of a 0-for-17 stretch while Francisco Lindor was 0-for-10. Alonso’s first two at-bats showed much of the same, as he punched out on a pair of fastballs out of the strike zone. Additionally, Brandon Nimmo and Lindor each started the night 0-for-3, and Soto began 0-for-2 with a hit by pitch.

Getting his third crack against Giants’ starter Robbie Ray, Alonso took an up-and-away fastball 414 feet into the right-center field bullpen to get the Mets on the board. Not only did it break his hitless slide, but it was Alonso’s first homer in over a week. The Polar Bear’s 249th career dinger, now three off the Mets franchise record, was a welcome sign for his skipper, as it traveled to the opposite field.

He later added a game-tying sacrifice fly and a walk, three consecutive quality at-bats to end the night.

“There were some good signs from Pete today,” Mendoza said. “The sac fly, the homer going the other way. Then he walked against Rodriguez. When he’s driving the ball that way, the other way, with authority, that’s a really good sign.”

Once the Mets got Ray out of the game, the top of the order seemed to wake up. Facing Joey Lucchesi in the eighth, Nimmo walked, Lindor singled, and Soto drove home a run with a knock of his own, before Alonso’s game-tying fly ball.

Unfortunately for New York, Alonso’s solid night was not enough, as their year-long problem with runners on base continued. The Mets went 1-for-7 with RISP and left nine runners on base, including the bases loaded in the 10th. On a more positive note, Mark Vientos stayed hot, pushing his hitting streak to 10-straight, tying a career high-water mark.

Peterson continues to be steady

While Friday’s loss marked the first time that the Mets had lost a David Peterson start at home this season (previously 10-0), he continued to solidify himself as the team’s top option.

The lefty got through six innings, a rarity for Mets pitchers, allowing four hits, two runs, two walks while striking out four, keeping his ERA at 2.83. Friday was the fourth-straight time out that the lefty pitched at least six frames on the heels of his two worst starts of the season.

As Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea continue to work their way back to full strength after respective IL stints, Mendoza will continue to rely on Peterson to give him length, even with a bullpen that was refueled at the trading deadline.

Both Giants runs against him came in the second inning, before he registered four scoreless innings to cap off his night.

“I thought after that second inning, he settled in nicely,” Mendoza said. “Typical Peterson outing. He was using all of his pitches, the sinker, the changeup, the slider, keeping guys off balance, guys putting the ball on the ground, putting the ball in play, and again, gave us a solid six innings and gave us a chance to win a baseball game.”

Peterson has now matched up with Ray in consecutive starts. Last Saturday in San Francisco, Peterson outdueled Ray by going six innings and pitching around eight hits and three walks. He is now in a tie for the ninth-most innings in the National League, while holding the seventh-lowest ERA.

“The recency plays into it a lot,” Peterson said. “They saw how we pitched them the first time, so we tried to see what we did well in the first one, and see what we needed to improve. At the same time, you’re going out there with your strengths. You’re trying to attack and be aggressive in the zone, so I think seeing where we were at last time and how we pitched them, then what tweaks we could make to try to keep them off balance.”