NEW YORK - Rookie pitcher David Peterson struck out National League batting leader Freddie Freeman three times and fanned a career-high 10 hitters in six sharp innings as the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 7-2 Saturday night.
Atlanta's lead in the NL East Division standings over the second-place Miami Marlins dropped to 2 1/2 games. The Braves have eight games remaining, the Marlins nine.
The Mets moved to within 1 1/2 games of the NL's last playoff spot with eight games left.
A night after New York's 15-2 loss ended with infielder Todd Frazier pitching a 1-2-3 ninth, Peterson (5-2) fanned Freeman in the first, third and fifth innings.
"Freddie, he's been one of the best hitters, if not the best hitter in the National League so far in this season," Mets manager Luis Rojas said. "He's definitely a tough matchup, and Petey, he was able to mix well against him."
Peterson allowed one run and three hits as he threw 102 pitches, his most as a Major League Baseball player. The 25-year-old left-hander also matched his longest outing and went six innings for the second time against Atlanta.
Adam Duvall homered for Atlanta in the sixth.
Peterson got Freeman to foul tip a fastball into catcher Robinson Chirinos' glove after he picked off Ronald Acuña Jr. in the first. In the third with Acuña on first, Peterson fanned Freeman on a slider. In the fifth with Austin Riley on second, he got the four-time NL All-Star first baseman on another slider.
"He's been around a while for a reason," Peterson said. "He's a great hitter and a tough out. Like you saw tonight it was just mixing things up, fastball, slider, left-on-left changeup.
"It takes everything to get that guy out. He's a great hitter and a great player in this league. It was good to have success tonight."
Freeman, who began the game batting .359, hit an inning-ending double play in the seventh with the bases loaded on a 1-0 pitch against Justin Wilson. Freeman struck out in the ninth to end it, marking the second time this season he struck out four times; the first was July 28 against the host Tampa Bay Rays.
"He's not an easy AB for anybody," Wilson said. "He's a great hitter, it's been proven. Luckily, he hit it hard enough to Robbie."
Freeman's 12-game hitting streak ended as his batting average dropped to .349. He leads the Washington Nationals' Juan Soto by 11 points in the batting race.
The league MVP contender's on-base streak ended at 33 games, the longest in the majors this season on the same day Braves legend Chipper Jones tweeted his support for Freeman's candidacy.
Robinson Canó had three hits, including a two-run double off rookie Ian Anderson (3-1) after the Mets opened the game with three straight walks. He added a solo homer in the eighth after Dominic Smith opened the inning with a homer off Shane Greene, who allowed multiple runs for the first time in 31 appearances.
"He's had an unbelievable, spectacular year," Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Greene. "Unfortunately, you keep going out there, that might happen once in a while."
Brandon Nimmo had a two-run single, and Chirinos added an RBI single for the Mets.
Anderson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings. He got eight strikeouts but also issued four walks.
"It didn't start the way I wanted, walking the first three guys," Anderson said, "but I managed to get through four (innings) and change."