As we honor those that gave the ultimate sacrifice on this Memorial Day Weekend, the Mets opened their series with the Braves at Citi Field on Saturday night…and they came to play!
The Mets sent Taijuan Walker to the mound in his first start since coming off the injured list and they provided him with plenty of run support.
James McCann got things going by sending one over the right center field wall to open the scoring. Then, after a McCann double and outfield error, Dominic Smith singled McCann home to make it 2-0 in the third.
Former Baltimore Oriole Jonathan Villar pitched in with a home run into the apple out in central, then Francisco Lindor’s daring bunt attempt followed by a McCann single set the table for Tomas Nido to bat Lindor in on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-0 in the fifth inning.
After the Braves plated one in the top of the sixth, the Mets went on a seven-run outburst fueled by home runs from Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney to make it 11-1.
Lindor would add two more in the seventh off his fourth dinger of the year to make it 13-1.
The Braves would plate one in the eighth, but it was already too little, too late as relievers Sean Reid-Foley, Miguel Castro and Jacob Barnes shut the door.
“It’s taken us a while to put together a game like this, but being able to put up runs and guys coming through in big spots, everyone contributed,” McCann said. “That makes it a lot of fun in the dugout.”
Manager Luis Rojas added that it was a huge boost for the team to explode as such offensively.
“It builds a lot of confidence from the offensive standpoint,” manager Luis Rojas said. “That’s something we hadn’t done in the season so far.”
New York will look to close out the series against Atlanta on Sunday night and take the shortened two-game set after Friday’s rainout.
The Mets will then face the Diamondbacks in Phoenix to start a nine-game road trip. The Mets and Braves will meet again June 21-23 at Citi Field, part of a seven-game homestand for the Mets.
