The Mets won their second straight against Atlanta on Saturday night, doubling up the Braves 4-2 at Turner Field.
Jon Niese started for the Mets and was cruising along, holding the Braves scoreless for seven solid innings. But in the eighth, Niese began to tire and the Braves loaded the bases with one out. That would be all for the Mets lefty. Niese was charged with two runs on seven hits in 7.1 innings, walking one and striking out five.
Josh Edgin inherited the bases loaded and was quickly greeted by a two-run single by Met killer Freddie Freeman. It would be the only batter he faced.
Terry Collins then called on the almost always dependable Carlos Torres, who came in and got two huge outs to strand the tying runs and snuff out the Atlanta threat.
Lucas Duda got the Mets on the board with a sacrifice fly in the first inning to score Eric Young Jr. who led off the game with a walk.
Second baseman Dilson Herrera went 2-for-3 and hit a two-run homer in the second inning. However he came up lame in the sixth while legging out a single and left the game with what the team is calling a right quad strain. It looks like he’ll probably miss the remaining week of the season. Herrera finishes his short stint batting .220 (13-for-59) with three homers and 11 RBI.
Curtis Granderson hit a solo home run in the eighth to extend the Mets lead to 4-0. It was the 19th homer of the season for Granderson who started in center field tonight.
Jenrry Mejia came in to pitch the ninth and earned his 27th save of the season. It’s been a solid campaign for Mejia who leads the National League with 17 second half saves. He did not do any sort of celebration and left the field quietly.
After consecutive 74 win seasons, tonight’s win was the Mets’ 75th of the season and they only need to go 6-1 in the remaining seven games to finish at .500.
The Mets will look to complete the sweep on Sunday with Rookie of the Year candidate Jacob deGrom (8-6, 2.68) going up against Ervin Santana (14-9, 3.74) for the Braves in a 1:35 PM matchup.
