The New York Mets were defeated by the Atlanta Braves 7-6 on Tuesday night at SunTrust Park in Groundhog Day fashion. Another comeback defeat after the team had been leading most of the game.
Pitching
Steven Matz worked around an Ender Inciarte hit by pitch, and struck out Nick Markakis looking to end a scoreless first inning.
Matz again issued a leadoff walk in the second to Tyler Flowers. After intentionally walking Dansby Swanson with a man on second and two outs, he struck out Anibal Sanchez swinging to strand a pair.
Matz stranded another runner in scoring position in the third. Ozzie Albies lined a one out single up the middle, but back-to-back groundouts from Freddie Freeman and Markakis ended the inning.
After tossing his warmup pitches prior to the bottom of the third, Matz was pulled with discomfort in his middle finger.
Paul Sewald came on in relief of Matz, and the Braves cut into the lead. Sewald allowed a leadoff double to Flowers, two batters later he scored on a Charlie Culbertson RBI single. Swanson then followed that up with a double to put runners on second and third.
After striking out the pinch hitter Ryan Flaherty, Sewald walked Inciarte to load the bases. Culberson scored on a passed ball to make it 4-2, but Albies flew out to leave two in scoring position.
Sewald bounced back with a strong second inning of work, as he set down the middle of the Braves order 1-2-3 in the fifth.
Jerry Blevins recorded some hard outs, but worked around a one out walk in a scoreless top of the sixth. Blevins allowed a two out bloop single to Freeman, and then an RBI double to Markakis to cut the lead to 6-3.
Jacob Rhame relived Blevins, and needed just one pitch to get Flowers to fly out to end the bottom of the sixth.
Rhame gave up three straight singles to begin the eighth, loading the bases with nobody out for pinch hitter Preston Tucker. A run scored as Tucker grounded into a fielder’s choice, making it 6-4.
Inciarte then tied the game at 6 with a two run triple off the center field fence. Rhame recovered to strike out Albies and after walking Freeman, Markakis popped out to end the inning.
Gerson Bautista allowed a walk-off solo home run to Johan Camargo with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
Offense
The Mets jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first. Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a hit by pitch, he then stole both second and third. Nimmo scored easily as Jose Bautista lined a one out double to right, bringing home the first run of the game.
Bautista was stranded at third as both Michael Conforto and Devin Mesoraco grounded out to end the inning.
Nimmo scorched a single to right with one out in the third. Asdrubal Cabrera then launched his ninth home run of the season, a two run shot to right, to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
Adrian Gonzalez led off the top of the fourth with his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to right to make it 4-0.
After the Braves chipped into the lead in the fourth, the Mets added another run of their own. Cabrera led off the top of the fifth with a solo home run to right, his second shot of the game.
The Mets added another run in the sixth as Nimmo drove home Amed Rosario with a two out double, increasing the lead to 6-2.
Amed Rosario led off the top of the ninth with a single the other way, followed by Nimmo’s second hit by pitch of the game. However, Cabrera struck out, Luis Guillorme grounded into a fielders choice, and Conforto struck out to end the inning.
On Deck
The Mets look to take the final game and even the series with the Braves as they send Jason Vargas to the mound to be opposed by Julio Teheran at 7:35 p.m. at SunTrust Park.
