Mets Fall To Braves In Ninth, 4-3

 

Normally, with 2021 Jacob deGrom on the mound, you’d expect to have the upper hand for most, if not all, of the game.

But even the greatest pitcher of a generation has tough stretches.

That’s what happened on Thursday night against the Braves, as the right-handed flamethrower gave up three earned runs for the first time this season. He avoided the loss, as the Mets came back to tie the game at three in the ninth, but Seth Lugo couldn’t hold the lead in the bottom half, and the Braves took the rubber match of the series.

The Mets got on the board quickly, scoring in the first inning for the second straight game. Francisco Lindor walked, stole second, and then scored on a base hit off the bat of Michael Conforto to put the Mets up one.

However, it seemed as if the Atlanta bats hadn’t yet cooled from their 20-run performance the night prior.

Ehire Adrianza swung at the first pitch deGrom threw, and fouled the 100 MPH fastball off his foot. After a checkup with the trainers, Adrianza stepped back into the box and lined the second pitch he saw down the right field line. The throw beat him to third base, but was off the mark, and although he was called out initially, replay review overturned the call.

With one out, Ozzie Albies got a pitch to hit and capitalized, lining a single into center to drive home Adrianza and tie the game at one. Austin Riley followed suit a few batters later, turning on an outside fastball and driving it into the stands in right-field for a two-run homer. The unthinkable had happened; deGrom had given up three runs in a game for the first time this season.

The two-time Cy Young award winner was greeted similarly in the second, as Abraham Almonte led off the inning with a double, and Kevan Smith followed up with a screaming single of his own to put runners on the corners with no outs.

DeGrom regained his composure, however, and struck out three straight Braves while relying heavily on his secondary pitches to get out of the inning unscathed.

Meanwhile, on the offensive side of things, the Mets bats had quieted down. James McCann drew a walk in the second but was left stranded by the bottom of the order. In the third, the top of the lineup went down easily via a flyout and two soft groundouts.

DeGrom, looking as angry as ever, retook the mound in the home half of the third with a purpose. He struck out Albies with a heater on the outside black, and then retired Riley and Dansby Swanson to end the inning on just six pitches.

Angry deGrom continued his mission to destroy the Atlanta Braves in the fourth, striking out the side to bring his total to nine on the evening.

The Mets bats got a chance in the top of the fifth, as McCann got on base for the second time in the game, this time with a base hit. However, the Mets bats had no luck scoring him, and deGrom went back to the mound still down by two.

The furious deGrom continued his dominance and struck out the side once again in the home fifth, bringing his total to 12 up to that point in the game. His offense could not help him, however, as they went down in order in the top of the sixth.

DeGrom extended his strikeout streak to eight in the bottom of the sixth, punching out the first two batters he faced before retiring Swanson via a flyball to center. He had retired fifteen batters in a row, and it seemed as if his first and second inning struggles were long behind him.

Finally, in the top of the seventh, the offense began to crack through. Dominic Smith led off with a long home run to right field, and the Mets were within one.

DeGrom went back out for the bottom half of the seventh, and continued his reign of terror, retiring the Braves 1-2-3 on the back of two wonderful plays in the field from Luis Guillorme and Lindor.

That would mark the end of the day for deGrom, who went 7 IP, struck out 14 (one short of his career high), and allowed three earned runs on five hits. For any other pitcher, this was a wonderful start; for deGrom, it was the worst start of his season so far.

Still, even with their ace out of the game, the Mets offense had one last chance to try and get him the win.

And try they did.

Billy McKinney led off the top of the eighth with a opposite field base hit, and Lindor advanced him to second two batters later with a one-out walk. Conforto grounded out slowly to first, but advanced both runners. That brought up Pete Alonso for a chance to take the lead with one swing of the bat.

Unfortunately, the Polar Bear couldn’t come through, and he grounded out to Swanson to end the scoring threat.

Trevor May took over on the mound for deGrom in the eighth, and he immediately got himself into trouble, allowing back-to-back base hits to pinch-hitter Ronald Acuna Jr. and Adrianza. After retiring two straight, he walked Riley, loading the bases with two outs. Swanson came to the plate, but May was pumped up, and the right-hander fired three fastballs passed the shortstop to end the inning.

Next came the top of the ninth. One last chance for the Mets bats to make a comeback, with Smith was the leadoff hitter.

It took no more than one batter, as Smith bombed a hanging curveball over the fence in right field for his second home run of the night, tying the game at three. McCann got on base later in the inning for the third time in the game, but the rest of the Mets offense went down quickly, and the Braves came up in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied.

Heredia led off the ninth against RHP Seth Lugo and dribbled the ball in front of the mound towards Lugo. The right-hander fielded it, but lost his footing on the throw, and the ball sailed into the Braves dugout, advancing Heredia to second base. The speedster advanced to third with one out, and Kevan Smith came to the plate with the winning run 90 feet from home.

Lugo dismantled Smith, however, and got him chasing the high fastball for the second out of the inning. Now with two outs, the Mets opted to walk Acuna and face Inciarte instead. Inciarte went down 0-2 but worked a full count, ultimately drawing a walk on a close pitch and loading the bases for Freddie Freeman.

The Braves first-basemen had already struck out four times on the evening, and he wasn’t going up there to strike out again. Instead, he lined a grounder off Lugo that bounced towards Guillorme at third base. Guillorme tried to make an athletic play and throw out Freeman at first, but he couldn’t do it fast enough, and the Braves took the game, 4-3.

The Mets still hold a two-game lead in the NL East, as the Nationals lost to the Dodgers. They will travel back to New York and begin the Subway Series in the Bronx tomorrow, as Taijuan Walker will match up against Jordan Montgomery.