After two consecutive duds, Peterson was once again excellent and lengthy in guiding the Mets to a series-clinching and well-played 3-2 victory over the Brewers in front of a loud, sellout crowd of 42,241 at Citi Field.

Juan Soto ripped a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth and David Peterson tossed 6 2/3 strong innings, fueling the host New York Mets to a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night.

Both New York baseball teams were cruising along and comfortably in first place when the Mets and the Yankees crossed paths six weeks ago. The dominant storyline of that mid-May interleague series mostly was about one individual as the slumping Juan Soto returned for the first time to rounds and rounds of Bronx cheers after spurning the Bombers for a landmark $765 million deal from Steve Cohen and the Mets.

Fried and Rodon should keep the Mets bats quiet, like they have been for most of June. Paul Blackburn, Frankie Montas and an unknown spot starter will not keep you up at night. Anything the Yankees get from Marcus Stroman on Friday is a bonus.

The Yankees lost the series-opening game to the Mets 6-5 Friday, closing as -101 moneyline underdogs. LF Jasson Dominguez led the way for the Yankees, driving in 3 runs. They've fallen to second place in the AL East and have lost 5 straight contests.

The Mets cannot afford to wait until the trade deadline to make a move. More than doing something big on July 31, they need to do something now.

One MLB insider believes Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar would make a lot of sense for the New York Mets.