3 UP

1. Polar Blast

On Saturday, Pete Alonso hit his 41st homer in what should have been a game and series changing blast. That homer extended his National League rookie record, and it tied him with Carlos Beltran and Todd Hundley for the Mets single season record.

On that note, with Beltran and Hundley both being switch-hitters, Alonso now holds the Mets single season record for right-handed batters. That broke the tie he had with Hall of Famer Mike Piazza. Alonso is putting himself on the same level as three of the best Mets in team history, and he is playing at a level as two Hall of Famers.

That homer only further solidified his Rookie of the Year case as did his 100th RBI, which made him the first Met to reach that level since David Wright in 2008. We’re running out of superlatives to describe his prodigious power and impact on this team.

2. CyGrom

If you think Alonso’s feat was incredible, consider that Jacob deGrom became the first ever pitcher in Major League history to homer in a game he struck out 13 batters on two separate occasions. That start against one of the best offenses in all of baseball further cemented how he is a real Cy Young contender.

On that topic, deGrom leads the league in fWAR, bWAR, and strikeouts while being top five in innings pitched, K/9, ERA, FIP, and other categories. That is what a Cy Young winner looks like.

3. Didn’t Lose Ground

This series against the Braves was as ugly as it could get. Josh Donaldson was Chipper Jones. Ronald Acuna Jr. was Brian Jordan. This was a reminder to the days of Mel Rojas and Brian Jordan, Kenny Rogers and Andruw Jones, or anything Armando Benitez.

Through it all, the Mets were swept. That would take them from two games out in the loss column for the second Wild Card to two games out in the loss column for the second Wild Card. Now, they have the Chicago Cubs, who are terrible on the road, coming to Citi Field.

All told, this series hurt, but it did little to hurt their position in the standings.

 

 

3 DOWN

1. One Gaffe After Another

When the Mets and Braves seemed to be as evenly matched as they were in this series, it will ultimately be the team who executes better who will win the games. In case you haven’t noticed, the Braves won all three of the games played.

The Mets had Mickey Callaway ordering Amed Rosario, arguably the team’s hottest hitter, to bunt. J.D. Davis took his time fielding and trying a ball back into the infield allowing Billy Hamilton to score from first. A Todd Frazier error allowed a run to score. The position players could not drive home a run on Friday.

Really, this wasn’t so much the Braves doing those little things better. It was more the Mets just not playing well or playing smart baseball. They were asking players to bunt who should never be asked to bunt. When you break it down, the Braves looked like the seasoned postseason caliber team, and the Mets looked like a scrappy bunch trying to punch above their weight.

2. Brach Not So Sweet

The beginning of Brad Brach‘s Mets career was great. He came here talking about how he grew up a Mets fan, and he talked about how much he loved Wright hitting a homer in the World Series. He then had three scoreless appearances. Those appearances loomed all the larger because they came against the Nationals and Braves.

Since that time, he has allowed a run in three of his last five appearances. In two of those appearances, he has allowed more than one run. After this stretch, his Mets’ ERA is 7.50 ERA, which is higher than what it was when he was designated for assignment by the Cubs.

No matter how you break it down, the Mets need Brach to be better. That is the case all the more now with Edwin Diaz dealing with a trap issue and with the team now leaning on Paul Sewald in big spots.

3. Braves All-In, Mets Aren’t

On Friday, Billy Hamilton had the game winning hit in the 14th. The following night, Hamilton scored a run from first base on an Acuna single. That is the same Hamilton the Mets did not put a waiver on claim on despite them using Aaron Altherr off the bench. On that front, in the game Hamilton got the game winning hit, Altherr grounded out weakly in this spot with the winning run in scoring position.

On an overlooked note, the Braves claimed Francisco Cervelli, who would go 3-for-5 with a double. The Cervelli move mattered because the Mets could have used a shot in the arm at the catcher’s position with Tomas Nido having hit .088/.162/.176 in the second half.

Of course, Nido would also suffer a concussion necessitating their calling up Rene Rivera who had not played in the Majors all year.

You can argue Hamilton and Cervelli weren’t very good players, and you are probably right. However, they were both upgrades over what the Mets had. The Mets passed on making those upgrades, and both of those players had an impact in the Mets losing this series.