The New York Mets (14-6) lost to the Atlanta Braves (12-8) by a score of 4-3 tonight at SunTrust Park. Jacob deGrom was dominant for the Mets, but New York’s bullpen spoiled his solid outing for his second consecutive start.
Pitching:
DeGrom threw seven solid innings, limiting the Braves offense to only four hits. The right-hander walked two batters and had a second straight double-digit strikeout start by striking out 10 batters. But once again, deGrom got the no-decision a second straight start because the bullpen couldn’t secure it.
AJ Ramos pitched a second straight day out of the bullpen. Ramos struggled, walking two batters and only striking out one. Ramos was responsible for two earned runs.
Jerry Blevins came in to replace Ramos in the eighth. The southpaw didn’t pan out too well, giving up a long two-run double to Freddie Freeman.
Jeurys Familia blew his first save of the year, giving up a tying RBI triple to make the game a tied game at three. Then two batters later, Familia gave up a walk-off drag bunt to Ender Inciarte to score the winning run for Atlanta.
Hitting:
The Mets offense was very quiet tonight against Braves ace Julio Teheran; Mets bats were limited to four hits for the first seven innings.
The offense broke out late in the top of the eighth inning. Wilmer Flores led off the frame with a walk on a 3-2 count. Jose Reyes continued his strong offensive night, beating out a bunt single to get runners on first and second with no outs. Two batters later Asdrubal Cabrera cashed in with a two-run RBI single to claim a 2-0 lead. Jay Bruce also added a run on an RBI single in that inning to make it a 3-0 lead.
Reyes broke out of his historic 0-for-20 slump, going 3-for-4 at the plate.
Yoenis Cespedes continued to struggle tonight, striking out three more times going 0-for-5. Cespedes leads the national league in strikeouts with 35.
On Deck:
The Mets will play the final game of a four-game set tomorrow afternoon against the Atlanta Braves at 1:35 p.m. Zack Wheeler will make the start on the mound against right-handed pitcher Mike Foltynewicz. This season, Wheeler has taken advantage of his opportunity in the starting rotation after being demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas at the beginning of the season. Wheeler is 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA.
