Trevor Williams knocked himself out of consideration to pitch during the doubleheader Saturday against the Braves, but he may have saved the Mets in the process.
Williams delivered four scoreless innings of relief in the Mets’ 9-6 loss to the Braves on Friday, coming on for an ineffective Taijuan Walker in the second inning and mopping up his mess to make sure manager Buck Showalter still has fresh some arms left for the twin bill.
“Very valuable guy for us this year, especially with his versatility back and forth [from the rotation to the bullpen],” Showalter said. “Trevor helped us a lot.”
Williams — who had pitched just one inning over the previous 13 days — provided important length, tossing 52 pitches while keeping the Braves at bay. He was followed by Joely Rodriguez, Mychal Givens and Tommy Hunter (two innings).
Trevor WilliamsN.Y. Post: Charles WenzelbergIt remains to be seen whether the Mets will need to call up another fresh arm for protection before the doubleheader.
David Peterson, who is scheduled to start Game 1, is expected to be used as the 27th man.
“We’ll continue that conversation and see if there’s something we need to do,” Showalter said. “Could be something.
“We’re going to look at all our options and see if [general manager Billy Eppler] and everybody wants to do something.”
Luis Guillorme was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Michael Harris II in the second inning after getting waved around by third base coach Joey Cora.
“It’s funny, we’ve played 106 games and [this is] the first time anybody’s brought up the third base coach,” Showalter said. “Joey’s done a great job over there.”
Braves right-hander Ian Anderson buzzed Pete Alonso up and in with a 92 mph fastball in the fifth inning. The pitch forced Alonso to hit the deck, but he came back to single early in the Mets’ four-run rally.
“Anderson had trouble commanding his fastball all night,” Showalter said. “What’s unfortunate is that’s where people pitch Pete and a lot of guys. Those things are going to happen. It doesn’t make me happy about it. It doesn’t make Pete [happy]. It’s a reminder, him sticking his nose in there and getting right back in there. I hope everybody appreciates how hard that is to do and how it tests your mettle. At every turn, Pete’s answered that.”
David Peterson is set to start Game 1 against Jake Odorizzi before Max Scherzer and Max Fried will square off in the nightcap.
Infielder Kramer Robertson, whom the Mets designated for assignment on Wednesday, was claimed off waivers by the Cardinals. … Single-A outfielder Karell Paz received a 60-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Stanozol, a performance-enhancing substance.
Brett Baty was named the Eastern League (Double-A) Player of the Month for July. The 22-year-old third baseman hit .365/.435/.688 with eight home runs during the month, reaching base safely in 21 of 23 games.
