The Mets (85-66) were defeated by the Braves (61-91) by a score of 6-2 Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Pitching:
Logan Verrett started for the Mets, tossing 5 innings allowing 4 ER on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3. He was sparkling through the first 4 innings, however the Braves got to him for two home runs in the 5th when they scored those four runs.
Sean Gilmartin pitched the 6th and 7th innings and was solid again, allowing only two hits and striking out 3.
Hansel Robles was tasked with pitching the 8th inning, and was perfect. He got a routine fly out, struck out Freddie Freeman, and then Michael Conforto made a great diving catch to rob AJ Pierzynski of a base hit.
Tyler Clippard came in to pitch the top of the 9th, and was greeted by a double off the bat of Nick Swisher. Jace Peterson then popped up a bunt attempt to record the first out. Then Andrelton Simmons also popped up to catcher Kevin Plawecki for the second out. Michael Bourne then walked to bring pinch hitter Adonis Garcia to the plate. He smashed a double to center field, scoring two runs and increasing the Braves lead to 6-2. Nick Markakis then flew out to end the inning.
Offense:
The Mets got off to a quick start in the bottom of the 1st inning, getting their first run of the day on an opposite-field laser home run off the bat of David Wright. Daniel Murphy then immediately cracked a one-out double but was left on base. The Mets remained quiet for a while, with another double by Murphy and base hits by Wilmer Flores and Michael Conforto mixed in there.
Then came the 8th inning, when Curtis Granderson led off with a walk to knock Braves’ starter Matt Wisler out of the game. David Wright greeted the new right-handed reliever Peter Moylan with a base hit to center field to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez then went and got lefty Matt Marksberry to face Daniel Murphy.
Murphy, who hit a game-tying 3-run home run against the Braves 9 days ago off a lefty, couldn’t come through this time as he popped up to shallow left field. That brought Yoenis Cespedes to the plate, who was greeted with a 95 mph fastball up and in. After getting ahead in the count 2-0 and then 3-1, Cespedes walked on 7 pitches. Michael Cuddyer then came up to pinch hit for Lucas Duda, which again forced the Braves’ hand, who brought in the veteran Edwin Jackson.
Michael Cuddyer hit a sac-fly to center field to score Granderson from third, slimming the Braves’ lead to 4-2. So, with runners on first and second and two out, Wilmer Flores came up. After falling behind 1-2, Flores bounced out to shortstop to end the inning, making the Mets 0-60 with RISP on this home stand. The mets were set down quietly in the 9th inning.
Notes:
Coming into tonight’s contest, in September, the Braves had averaged 1 home run every 37 innings, before they hit two in the 5th inning tonight.
Michael Cuddyer has been fantastic as a pinch hitter this year, going 6-16 (.375) with 3 RBIs and 2 walks, including his RBI tonight.
The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 4-1, so even with the loss tonight, the Mets’ magic number is trimmed to 6. According to Howie Rose, the Mets player associated with that #6 is Al Weis, honorable mention to Wally Backman.
On Deck:
Tomorrow at 7:10 pm at Citi Field, the Mets will send Bartolo Colon (14-12, 4.15 ERA) to the hill to face off against Braves’ starter Williams Perez (6-6, 5.16 ERA).
