Turn the Page After Nightmare in Atlanta
Wednesday night was the epitome of a stinker, with injury concerns, to boot
Tuesday’s win over Atlanta breathed new life into these Metsies. We’ve actually seen this scenario play out a few times this season.
Take whatever momentum you can muster and make the most of it. That’s the blueprint.
Of course, the Braves wouldn’t lay down and let the Mets buzz through this three-game set, naturally. Things began innocuously enough but would take a turn toward the surreal by the end of the night.
Kevin Pillar led things off with a rocket over Abraham Almonte’s head in left field, pulling into second with a double and the Mets had their work cut out for themselves against Atlanta left-hander Max Fried.
As has been the story lately, Pillar was left on second base, and the… SIKE!!
Pete Alonso absolutely crushed a Fried middle-middle meatball (74 MPH curve) to give the Mets an early 2-0 lead and off we went.
Alonso finished the month of June with a .293/.366/.495 slash line, six home runs, a wholly impressive 16.1% strikeout rate, and 137 wRC+. Polar bears are notorious for putting entire ballclubs on their back when the need arises.
At least we can take one positive away from Wednesday because that’s where they would end.
David Peterson (just two earned runs allowed over his previous three starts; 1.08 ERA, .115/.246/.192 slash against, 14 K in 16.2 IP) took the Truist Park mound hoping to keep his encouraging stretch intact with an early two-run cushion.
Not this time. Ronald Acuna Jr. smoked a 113.3 MPH homer to lead off the first, cutting that advantage in half, and Ozzie Albies drove Freddie Freeman home (single; advanced on wild pitch) to knot things at two.
The back-and-forth nature of this one early on wouldn’t last. Not in the least.
Freeman walked and Albies singled again (then stole second) with two outs in the third and Austin Riley battled back from 0-2 against Peterson to drill a two-run single into left field and put Atlanta ahead 4-2.
The Braves wouldn’t relinquish that lead for the remainder of the evening. The Mets would also lose an extremely valuable cog in the process.
Almonte doubled into left-center leading off the fourth and moved to third on Peterson’s second wild pitch of the night.
Kevan Smith singled in the next at-bat to score Almonte, extending Atlanta’s lead to 5-2, and, like a recurring nightmare, something was up on the mound.
Luis Rojas, Jeremy Hefner, and head trainer Brian Chicklo were summoned by Peterson, grabbing at his lower right side on the mound, and, just like that, the left-hander’s night was over.
After the game, Rojas told reporters that Peterson’s injury was “concerning” and that he’d already left the ballpark to undergo more tests. A “sharp pain” in his right side was deemed the reason for his early exit.
Peterson’s discomfort was apparent. Let’s hope this isn’t a serious injury. As noted above, the 25-year-old southpaw was just starting to click after an inconsistent start to the season.
On Fried’s sacrifice bunt attempt, Sean Reid-Foley's misplay — in for Peterson — moved both runners into scoring position. Acuna grounded out for the first out, but things went downhill fast from there.
Freeman made it a 6-2 game with a base hit into left field, Albies singled again to make it 7-2, Riley drove Freeman in with his second hit of the game, Dansby Swanson drew a walk, Guillermo Heredia’s two-run double made it 10-2, and it was over from there.
The Braves ended up winning 20-2, closing out the Mets’ month at an even 15-15 while scoring exactly 3.5 runs per game over that span.
That’s not going to win any division titles, friends.
It’s likely going to take a substantial step up in productivity to keep pace in what’s shaping up to be a tighter NL East race than anticipated just a few weeks ago.
The Nationals’ 18-9 June has them nipping at New York’s heels with the dog days of summer rapidly approaching. Put-up or shut-up time.
The Mets close out their series in Atlanta on Thursday night with Jacob deGrom on the mound. Just what the doctor ordered. LFGM.
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