Wednesday, August 12, 2026 • 7:15 PM
Truist Park • Atlanta, GA
LHP Zac Thornton (3-2, 2.52) vs. RHP Tyler Mahle (3-9, 4.83)
SNY

The Mets will try again to win the series against the Braves. The Mets pitching was ready to go Tuesday night but the bats were not as the Mets lost 4-0 against the Braves. The Mets recorded only four hits and only had two at bats with runners in scoring position. If the Mets can win today it will lock in their third consecutive series win!

Zac Thornton vs. Brewers

Mets Lineup

  1. A.J. Ewing – LF
  2. Francisco Lindor – SS
  3. Bo Bichette – 3B
  4. Carson Benge – RF
  5. Luis Robert Jr. – CF
  6. Jared Young – 1B
  7. Francisco Alvarez – DH
  8. Brett Baty – 2B
  9. Luis Torrens – C

Starting Pitcher: Zac Thornton

Zac Thornton has made seven starts this season totaling 39 1/3 innings with a 2.52 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 1.068 WHIP and a 163 ERA+. He’s coming off of a strong start against the Pirates where he kept them scoreless over five innings. It was the third time in his career shutting out his opponents and a nice bounce back after allowing three earned runs in two consecutive starts. One of those starts was against the Braves where he allowed three runs over 6 1/3 innings from six hits including a home run while striking out five. The Braves have the following career stats against Zac:

Opposing Lineup

  1. Ronald Acuna Jr. – RF
  2. Drake Baldwin – DH
  3. Matt Olson – 1B
  4. Ozzie Albies – 2B
  5. Michael Harris II – CF
  6. Mauricio Dubon – SS
  7. Lane Thomas – LF
  8. Austin Riley – 3B
  9. Sean Murphy – C

Tyler Mahle will make his second start with the Braves tonight. Mahle has pitched 19 games (100 2/3 innings) this season with a 4.83 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 1.361 WHIP and an 83 ERA+. He was traded to the Braves at the deadline and had a great Braves debut, allowing no runs over six innings. The Mets faced Mahle way back in the first week of April where they scored five runs off of eight hits and two walks over five innings. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

Game Notes

Elian Peña homered twice on Tuesday night and Jefferson Rojas (Clay Holmes/Tyrone Taylor trade) hit his first home run in the Mets organization.

We took a look at the internal options for the Mets rotation if Robert Stock struggles in his next start.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. You again? Tonight, will be the first time in Zac Thornton’s career that he will face a team for a second time. The Mets bats came out in a huge way for Thornton the first time he faced the Braves. Twice in that start the Braves were able to claw back against the Mets, eventually making the score 3-3 until the Mets just exploded for a 14-3 win. Tonight we’ll be watching to see how batters approach Thornton after seeing him a couple of weeks ago.
  2. Carson Benge. Benge had two hits in a game Tuesday night. It was the fourth time in five games that Benge had at least two hits. Benge has reached base safely in 15 games in a row. Over that stretch he’s slashing .351/.422/.526 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs. The Mets are 9-6 over this streak!
  3. Jorge Polanco. On August 5th Jorge Polanco went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run after taking 300 swings during batting practice. Since then, over four games, he has gone 1-for-13 with a walk.

Let’s go Mets!