Saturday marked the start of the final weekend of the season for the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves who took the field for the penultimate game of the regular season on Saturday night in Atlanta, Georgia.

Carlos Carrasco (1-4, 5.75 ERA) got the ball for the Mets against Jesse Chavez (3-2, 2.14 ERA).

It was a rough game for the Mets with not much happening offensively early. They did not collect a run until the sixth inning, with their biggest comeback attempted in the eighth and ninth innings in a 6-5 loss to the Braves.

It was a hallmark night for Francisco Lindor who collected his 1000th hit, a triple in the eighth.

Both pitchers got off to a strong start. Chavez retired the Mets in order in the top of the first and Carrasco retired three of four batters he faced, allowing just a two-out single to Freddie Freeman who the Braves left stranded at first.

The Braves went to their bullpen early as Drew Smyly came in to replace Chavez on the mound for the Braves in the third inning.

Things began to unravel a bit for Carrasco in the third. After two quick outs, he gave up a solo home run to Joc Pederson to center field to give the Braves a 1-0 lead.  Orlando Arcia then doubled, followed by an RBI double by Freeman to center field to extend the Braves’ lead over the Mets to 2-0 in the third. A strikeout of Dansby Swanson got Carrasco out of the inning.

Smyly gave the Mets a chance to close the scoring gap in the fourth as he walked two in the inning, but the Mets left two more stranded and continued to struggle offensively with runners in scoring position.

Carrasco continued to fall apart in the fourth as the Braves continued to roll. He gave up lead-off single to Eddie Rosario to open the inning. After retiring the next two batters he faced, William Contreras hit a two-run home run to extend the Braves’ lead over the Mets to 4-0. Carrasco then struck out Smyly to end the inning..

Carrasco continued to struggle in the fifth. He walked two with one out and gave up a two-out RBI single to Rosario to right field to extend the Braves’ lead over the Mets to 5-0 in the fifth. After a mound visit, Carrasco retired Adrianza to get out of the inning, but not before the Braves extended their lead over the Mets.

Heading into the sixth inning it was 5-0 Braves over the Mets.

The Braves went back to their bullpen in the sixth. A.J. Minter came in to replace Smyly.

The Mets turned their offense on as the bats ignited in the sixth. Michael Conforto hit a one-out single to get things started. He was followed by Pete Alonso who hit an RBI double that scored Conforto to put the Mets on the board and decrease the Braves’ lead to 5-1. The Mets then left Alonso stranded as Minter collected strikeouts of Jonathan Villar and Jeff McNeil to end the inning and take the game to the seventh.

The Mets went to their bullpen as well. It was Robert Gsellman coming in to replace Carrasco.

Gsellman got off to a rocky start. He hit Guillermo Heredia to open the inning. After retiring the next two batters faced he gave up a single to Pederson, followed by an RBI single to Arcia that scored Heredia and extended the Braves’ lead over the Mets to 6-1. He then grounded out Freeman to get out of the inning.

The Mets’ offense went back to being quiet in the seventh as Minter retired the Mets in order.

Brad Hand came in to replace Gsellman on the mound in the seventh as the Mets went back to their bullpen. Except a walk to Adrianza, Gsellman worked a good inning, retiring three of four he faced and not allowing any hits or runs to come.

Dylan Lee came in to replace Minter on the mound for the Braves in the eighth. The Mets needed to get some offensive life reignited as they were down by five heading into the final two innings.

 

The Mets tried to get the offense going. After a strikeout by Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor tripled, followed by a two-run home run by Michael Conforto to bring the score within three, making it a 6-3 game in the eight. That’s all the Mets were able to bring across however, as Villar reached on a fielding error, but was left stranded. Jose Peraza was called out on strikes in a pinch-hit position to end the inning.

Miguel Castro came in to replace Hand on the mound for the Mets in the bottom of the eighth. His job was to hold the score where it was and give the offense a chance to come back in the ninth. After a walk to Contreras, Castro retired Austin Riley and grounded Pederson into a double play to end the inning.

The Braves went to their bullpen in the ninth. It was Richard Rodriguez  to replace Lee on the mound.

Needing to make a comeback, James McCann led off the inning for the Mets with sharp line drive double to right field to get the Mets started. Guillorme lined out for the first out of the inning, but then a wild pitch by Rodriguez moved McCann to third.

Kevin Pillar then came to the plate and hit an RBI triple that scored McCann and made it a 6-4 game as the Mets closed the gap. After a mound visit by the Braves, Nimmo hit an RBI-single to right field that scored Pillar and it was quickly a one-run game.

Down by one with one out, Lindor flew out to center field for the second out of the inning.

The Braves then went back to their bullpen, bringing in Jacob Webb to replace Rodriguez to try to get the last out of the inning

Webb’s outing started with a walk to Conforto to put two on with two outs as Nimmo was moved to second. A wild pitch moved the runners, advancing Nimmo to third and Conforto to second. Webb intentionally walked Alonso to load the bases. It was bases loaded, two outs in the ninth for the Mets. Villar then grounded out to end the inning and the game as the Braves defeated the Mets 6-5 and the Mets took the heart-breaking loss with one game left in the season.

Smyly (11-4, 4.48 ERA) got the win for the Braves, Carrasco (1-5, 6.04 ERA) took the loss for the Mets, and Webb (1) collected his first save of the season.

The Mets and Braves will finish out the regular season on Sunday at 3:20PM. Noah Syndergaard will take the mound in 2021 for the Mets on Sunday against Charlie Morton for the Braves.

 Player of the Game:

Conforto was the  player of the game. He was 2-4, with a home run, walk, two RBI’s, and two runs scored.