For the second time in as many weeks, the Mets were starting a series with the Braves. The last one resulted in the Mets getting swept out of Atlant in pretty humiliating fashion. Tonight, Paul Blackburn was starting for them, coming off a 3.2 inning start against the Braves where he gave up four runs (only three earned). And the Mets had to face Spencer Schwellenbach, whose last game was against the Mets when he went seven innings giving up four runs and striking out eight.
In the first, Ronald Acuña Jr. singled, stole a base, and advanced to third on a Matt Olson sacrifice fly. But a baserunning miscue led to him being caught between third and home on a Marcell Ozuna ground ball and he was erased without being able to score, with the inning ending soon after. The Mets went down in order in the bottom of the inning.
In the second, Blackburn hit Ozzie Albies with a pitch, and he stole second. A Sean Murphy single moved him to third, and Michael Harris II hit a sacrifice fly to bring him in to score as the game’s first run. Blackburn got two strikeouts to end the inning before any more damage could be done. The Mets, once again, went down in order.
Acuña led off the third with a solo home run. Olson doubled, Ozuna walked, and Blackburn threw a wild pitch that allowed both to advance. Austin Riley walked to load the bases, and a Murphy sacrifice fly brought in the Braves’ third run and second of the inning. Blackburn got out of it after that. Brett Baty and Francisco Lindor hit consecutive two out singles, but both were stranded by Brandon Nimmo after he popped out in foul territory.
Other than a one out single, the Braves had a relatively quiet fourth inning, and the Mets went down in order yet again (are you sensing a theme?). In the fifth, Riley hit a one-out triple, and Murphy drew a two-out walk, which was the end of Blackburn’s night. José Buttó came in and got the third out, stranding both runners. You’ll never believe it, but the Mets? They went down in order in the bottom of the fifth.
Buttó had the first clean inning for the Mets in the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, Baty led off with a single, but he was erased by a Lindor double play. But Nimmo walked, and that set up a Juan Soto home run to bring the Mets within one run. Ryne Stanek came in for the Mets in the seventh, and it was a little more fraught than the sixth, with a walk and single leading to runners on the corners with two outs, but a Murphy strikeout stranded them both and kept the Mets within one. The Mets went back to the regularly scheduled programming in the bottom of the inning, going down in order.
Reed Garrett was the next man up in the bullpen for the eighth, and he got another clean inning for the Mets. Raisel Iglesias came in in the bottom of the inning for the Braves, and after two outs he gave up consecutive singles to Lindor and Nimmo, putting runners on the corners for Soto. The Braves brought in Dylan Lee to face Soto, and it took eight pitches but Lee struck out Soto to strand both runners and keeping the Braves ahead by a run.
Edwin Díaz came in for the Mets in the ninth, and it was a little bumpy with a one out single from Olson and a two out single from Riley, he kept the Braves in check and the Mets had the bottom of the inning to try and at least tie, if not win the game. But, in keeping with the rest of the evening, the Mets went down. In order. To end the game.
The Mets have now lost nine of their last ten. During that skid they have been swept, ceded first place, and have looked a far cry from the dominant team they were for much of the first part of the season. The starting pitching has continued to be a problem for them, with injuries and poor performance each contributing to the faltering of the rotation. Frankie Montas returns tomorrow, but given how his rehab starts have gone there’s reason to not be optimistic. Hopefully Sean Manaea will be back soon, but the Mets have begun to see major question marks spring up around the talented roster.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Ryne Stanek, +5.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: Paul Blackburn, -16.1% WPA
Mets pitchers: +1.5% WPA
Mets hitters: -51.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto’s two run home run in the sixth, +19.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Juan Soto’s strikeout in the eighth, -13.9% WPA