Mets Blow Lead, Lose 6-4 To Braves

The Mets entered Atlanta with a .500 record and desperately needed a win after being swept at home by the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite an early solo home run by Ozzie Albies, New York was rolling early and was on the path to victory.

Francisco Lindor jumpstarted the Mets’ offense in the top of the third, demolishing a two-run home run to the infamous Chop House to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Before his home run, Lindor was mired in a 0-for-15 slump.

More damage awaited for the Braves in the top of the third. After Jeff McNeil walked with two outs, Pete Alonso drove a ball over the left-field wall to double the Mets’ lead to 4-1. It was Alonso’s 22nd home run on the season, which leads all MLB batters.

With a three-run lead entering the bottom of the third inning, Carlos Carrasco settled in and pitched excellently. The 36-year-old struck out three batters across the third, fourth, and fifth inning, while also inducing an inning-ending double play to get through five innings. His only blemish entering the sixth was a solo home run that he allowed to Albies earlier in the second inning.

While Carrasco breezed through five innings against the Braves, the sixth inning proved to be too large. He walked Matt Olson to start the sixth inning and allowed him to reach third after Austin Riley doubled down the left-field line. Then, Sean Murphy drove both runners home with a double into the gap to cut the Mets’ lead to 4-3. Entering Tuesday night, Murphy was batting .444 with two home runs and six RBI against the Mets in 2023.

With Murphy on second base and nobody out, Buck Showalter brought Drew Smith in to pitch, ending Carrasco’s night. Smith recorded the first two outs of the inning and almost escaped the inning with the Mets still in front. However, Marcell Ozuna took a hanging slider down the left-field line to tie the game at four.

Once Murphy came in to score, Carrasco’s final line was set. The Venezuelan allowed six hits, four runs, and two walks in five innings. After the game, Carrasco spoke to Steve Gelbs about his inability to put away batters in the sixth inning.

“Those guys are really aggressive with two outs,” Carrasco told SNY. “I was trying to go away from them, and trying to get a strike from a ball.”

Smith’s struggles in the inning continued against Orlando Arcia. The former Brewer ripped a single up the middle that went off the glove of Eduardo Escobar, driving in the fourth Atlanta run of the inning to give the Braves a 5-4 lead.

“Gotta get three outs,” Drew Smith said post-game to SNY. “Obviously getting the first two is big, but I struggled to get Ozuna and Arcia, but I really thought the slider to Ozuna was the only bad pitch of the night for me. But, they’re good hitters, gotta give them credit and gotta do a better job.”

The Mets’ offense crumbled once they lost the lead. New York failed to record a hit after the third inning and only recorded four hits the entire night. After the game, Lindor was asked about the Mets’ offensive struggles, and their future ability to string together base hits.

“That’s gonna happen, that’s coming. That’s gonna happen at some point. I know we’re capable of doing that.”

The Braves added an insurance run in the eighth behind some poor defense from McNeil. Facing Adam Ottavino, Rosario doubled down the line with one out. McNeil bobbled the ball multiple times while attempting to grab it off the grass, allowing Rosario to advance to third. This came after McNeil failed to throw a ball into second base in the sixth inning, which allowed Austin Riley to advance an extra base.

After Albies walked following the Rosario double, Ozuna grounded into a fielder’s choice to extend the Braves lead to 6-4.

Raisel Iglesias locked down the win in the bottom of the ninth. He set down the Mets in order, handing New York their fourth consecutive loss. With Tuesday night’s loss, the Mets are 6.5 games behind the Braves for first place.

Player of the Game: Francisco Lindor

Francisco Lindor broke out of his slump against the Braves on Tuesday night. The Mets’ shortstop gave New York their first lead of the night with his two-run home run and also reached base earlier in the game via a walk.

On Deck

Max Scherzer takes the mound for the Mets on Wednesday and looks to build upon his recent success. The former Tiger was outstanding in his last start, where he struck out nine Phillies across seven innings.  Charlie Morton gets the start for Atlanta. He struggled against the Mets on May 1, allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings.

First pitch for Wednesday night’s game is set for 7:20 pm. The game will be available to watch on SNY, and can be listened to on 88o WCBS.