Mets Continue to Amaze, Lay Beatdown on Atlanta Braves 13-2

On a night when Taijuan Walker made his return off the Injured List – and was stellar – it was the New York bats that ended up the story when all was said and done.

The Mets routed the Braves 13-2 Saturday night at Citi Field, making it four straight for the suddenly super subs. The offensive output was the highest of the season in both runs scored and homers hit, with five balls clearing the fence on a chilly night in Queens.

Making his first start after exiting on May 17 with soreness in his side, Walker was greeted with a Ronald Acuna Jr. single up the middle. But Tomas Nido cut him down trying to steal between strikeouts of Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies to end the top of the first unscathed.

After Braves’ starter Ian Anderson struck out Jonathan Villar and Francisco Lindor to start the bottom half of the opening frame, Met catcher first baseman James McCann hit his third homer of the year: an opposite-field shot just over the 370 mark in right-center field.

Walker allowed another leadoff single in the second – this time to Austin Riley – but again escaped without much issue, aided by Jonathan Villar’s spectacular diving grab to end the inning.

Villar almost made an even bigger splash in the bottom half of the inning, but his bid for a two-out grand slam fell into Acuna’s glove with his back against the right field wall. After Anderson struck out Nido and Billy McKinney to start the inning, the Mets loaded the bases via a Jose Peraza bloop single, a Cameron Maybin hit by pitch and a walk to Taijuan Walker – who literally cannot (or will not) swing the bat.

The Mets added on in the bottom of the third after McCann doubled off center fielder Guillermo Heredia’s glove – advancing to third on a bobble by the former Met – and Dom Smith snuck a grounder past the pulled-in infield to make it 2-0.

Walker cruised through the third and fourth frames, striking out three, including Acuna on a filthy 3-2 slider to end the third and Freeman on a high fastball to start the fourth. Albies reached via a one-out walk in the fourth, but Walker coaxed a double-play from Riley to end the inning.

It took just seven pitches for Anderson to work through the bottom third of the Met order in the fourth. Maybin’s lineout in the inning made it 0-for-27 for him to start his Mets tenure, setting the unenviable franchise record in that category.

Walker kept on dealing in the fifth, retiring the Braves in order and picking up two more strikeouts in the process. His day would end there after 80 pitches as manager Luis Rojas no doubt was erring on the side of caution in the starter’s return from the IL.

Walker gave up just two hits and one walk over his five innings, tying his season-high with eight strikeouts. His 1.84 ERA through his first nine starts with the Mets is the second lowest in franchise history (Al Leiter).

After just missing a homer in the second, Villar left no doubt leading off the bottom of the fifth, parking an 0-1 fastball over the centerfield fence and into the Home Run Apple. Lindor followed that up with a bunt single into the shift, and McCann picked up his third hit of the night – a single to right field to chase Anderson with runners on the corners and one out.

Sean Newcomb entered for Atlanta and promptly stuck out Smith on three pitches. Nido’s fielder’s choice scored Lindor, making it 4-0 Mets, before McKinney struck out to end the inning.

Miguel Castro came on for the sixth for the Mets, allowing a leadoff double to Heredia – the Braves first hit since the second inning. After a Johan Camargo groundout advanced Heredia to third, Castro struck out Acuna but walked Freeman on a 3-2 fastball that he spiked, allowing Heredia to score the Braves’ first run. Albies’ flyout to left limited the damage to one run.

If there was any doubt it was the Mets night it ended with one out in the sixth as Maybin sent the Citi Field crowd and Met dugout into a frenzy with his first hit of the year – a dribbler down the third base line that just hugged the grass enough to stay fair. Brandon Drury followed that up with a pinch-hit, two-run moonshot of a homer to left field, making it 6-1 good guys.

The Mets weren’t done, though. Villar walked, Lindor reached on a rare Freeman error and McCann snuck a grounder just past the glove of Dansby Swanson to score Villar and move Lindor to third. After Smith struck out, Nido ripped a single to left, scoring Lindor.

And still, the Mets weren’t done. McKinney, the ninth batter of the inning, decided then would be a fine time to hit his first homer as a Met, drilling one into the upper deck in right, making it 11-1 Mets after six.

With every other slumping Met breaking out on Saturday, Lindor didn’t want to feel left out. He smashed a two-run homer to right center in the seventh to give the Mets 13 runs on the evening.

Sean Reid-Foley pitched the seventh and eighth and wasn’t especially sharp – issuing three walks and two hits over two innings – but allowed just one run. Jacob Barnes pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the final two batters he faced to mercifully end the Braves’ night.

The Mets and Braves are scheduled to finish their series at 7 p.m. on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, but rain all day in Queens could postpone the teams for the second time in three days.