The Mets (80-71) were defeated by the cellar dwelling Atlanta Braves (60-91) yet again by a score of 5-4 tonight at Citi Field.
Pitching:
Robert Gsellman toed the rubber for the Mets tonight, and pitched well, going 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, while walking two and striking out six.
In the first inning, Gsellman let up a double with one out to put the Braves in an immediate scoring position, but the righty struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
After a painless second, Gsellman put a pair of runners on in the third, but rolled a double play to get out of the jam.
Gsellman pitched a clean fourth and fifth, but ran into trouble in the sixth and was pulled from the game after allowing the Braves to tie it up.
Josh Smoker came on with the bases juiced and walked Nick Markakis to force in a run. It would be the only batter he faced, as Fernando Salas was brought in to relieve Smoker.
Salas ended the threat in the sixth, but the Braves extended the lead to 5-1 on a three-run shot from Adonis Garcia off Jerry Blevins in the seventh.
Offense:
The Mets were stymied by the Braves yet again. The lone run came on an RBI double from Asdrubal Cabrera in the third.
With the Mets in the hole 5-1 in the eighth, Curtis Granderson doubled in a run to make it 5-2.
T.J. Rivera then hit a sacrifice fly, and Eric Campbell pinch hitting got the Mets within a run, but Travis d’Arnaud ended the threat with a ground out. Huge moment in this inning was Jay Bruce being pinch hit for by the 40th man on the roster in Campbell. That had to make Bruce feel about two feet tall.
On deck:
Bartolo Colon (14-7, 3.14 ERA) and the Mets look to salvage the final game of the series tomorrow night, and will take on Ryan Weber (1-1, 5.46 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10 PM.
