The Mets (4-5) took the rubber game of the series in Atlanta, beating the Braves (5-4) by a score of 6-4 on Thursday night.
Jenrry Mejia took the ball for New York in his second start of the season, while David Hale got the call for Atlanta.
The Mets drew first blood when Eric Young singled, stole second, took third on a bad throw, and came in to score on Daniel Murphy‘s groundout. But the Braves quickly answered, tying the game at 1-1 in the 2nd inning when Justin Upton lined Mejia’s pitch into the right-field stands.
The Mets would score again in the next inning, and again it was Young getting things started. Eric laid down a great drag bunt, stole second again, and scored on an RBI single from David Wright. After Curtis Granderson struck out, Murphy (who had reached base on a walk) scored on a groundout from Ike Davis to give New York a 2-run lead.
The Braves tilted the see-saw back in their favor in the bottom of the 3rd. After BJ Upton “tripled” on a ball Curtis Granderson seemed to lose in the lights (or lack thereof), Chipper Jones Freddie Freeman grounded one past Mejia and into center field to make it a 1-run ballgame. After Mejia struck out Chris Johnson (who whiffed 4 times in this game), Justin Upton walked up to the plate. As Gary Cohen and Ron Darling talked about how Mejia needed to be careful with the Braves slugger, the Talented Upton Brother rudely interrupted our stellar broadcasting squad by crushing Jenrry’s 1-1 cutter out to left to give the Braves a 4-3 lead.
The two teams finally traded zeroes in the fourth, before Eric Young led off the 5th with a “triple” of his own– a deep drive that BJ Upton got his glove on but couldn’t reel in. Murphy tied the game with an RBI single, but the Mets then squandered a big chance to take the lead. After Granderson reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second, Ike Davis drew a walk to load the bases for Juan Lagares. The Braves brought in Anthony Varvaro to replace Hale, and Varvaro quickly fanned Juan and got Travis d’Arnaud to ground out, limiting the Mets to 1 run.
Mejia worked his way in and out out of trouble in the bottom of the inning, and finished his night with 4 runs allowed on 6 hits and 4 walks in five decent frames, in which he struck out 7 Atlanta hitters. Carlos Torres came in after Mejia and was fantastic, pulling off some fancy shenanigans to get a double play on a popped-up bunt and then making a nice play to retire Jason Heyward in the 6th, before striking out all 3 Braves he faced in the bottom of the 7th.
Torres would end up as the winning pitcher, thanks in large part to what Juan Lagares did in the top of the 7th. After Daniel Murphy singled, took second on a wild pitch by Luis Avilan, and then stole third on a pitch that put Granderson on first with a walk, Lagares redeemed himself by hitting a single to right to give the Mets the lead.
Eric Young and Daniel Murphy combined for yet another run in the 8th. EY reached on a fielder’s choice and stole his third base of the game, then came in with an important insurance run on Murph’s RBI double.
Kyle Farnsworth pitched a perfect 8th to get the ball to Jose Valverde, whose outing went a lot smoother than his previous one. Papa Grande induced a pop-up from Ramiro Pena, did the same with Evan Gattis, and then struck out Jason Heyward to end the game for the Mets and give New York their second consecutive series win.
The Mets gave us a very solid performance in this game. Mejia struggled at times, but gave the team a chance to win, and the bullpen was once again phenomenal. The Mets’ relief corps has now gone 5 straight games without allowing a run. Torres, Farnsworth, and Valverde all looked fantastic, so let’s hope for some health and continued success going forward from those 3.
I’d like to see Mejia be a bit more efficient on the mound. He seems to chase strikeouts, which can lead to a lot of walks. He struggled to get through six innings in his last start and could only finish 5 tonight. Still, he has great stuff on the mound, and if he can stay healthy, I think he’ll be able to figure it out.
Granderson has done very little to win me over after I spent a few years hating him as a member of the Yankees. It’s nice to have a power threat in the lineup, but he strikes out quite often. I’m not too concerned though, he’s been hitting the ball hard when he makes contact and for a guy who can hit it out of the park at any time, he also brings a nice amount of speed. I won’t blame him for the fly ball he botched tonight… Atlanta needs to stop Chopping and start fixing their lighting.
Eric Young got off to a rough start this season, but he has been very good these past couple games. Young had 3 hits and 3 steals, and he was definitely the catalyst for our offense in this one. David Wright also had a big hit after getting a pair of base knocks last night, so hopefully he’s gotten over his bout with the flu and can get back to being the Captain we all know and love.
Daniel Murphy was also very good tonight, getting 3 hits and driving in 3 runs. He also had a pretty good night in the field, although I’m pretty sure he almost tripped over the 2nd base bag at one point…
I really hope Travis d’Arnaud can start stringing some hits together. He got a few hits in this series, but went 0-for-4 tonight. I’m not going to give up on TDA yet or any time soon, because he is still so inexperienced, but I’d really like to see some of that potential we’ve heard about show up on the field. Travis did make a very good throw to 2nd base that would have nailed Jason Heyward had Murphy correctly applied the tag. (Now that I think about it, maybe Murph wasn’t so great in the field…)
Juan Lagares has done something— with the bat, the glove, or both— to give the Mets a better chance to win day in and day out this season. Eric Young has picked it up these past couple games, and Curtis Granderson is an All-Star the biggest power threat in the lineup. It will be interesting to see what happens when— if — Chris Young returns.
It’s always good to get the series win, and it’s extra special when we can do it at Turner Field, where the Mets have always struggled. The Mets have now won two consecutive series, and they will look to make it three when they head to Los Angeles to visit the Angels.
Up Next: The Mets will fly out to LA to begin a 3 game series with the Angels on Friday night. Dillon Gee (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will face Tyler Skaggs (1-0, 0.00 ERA).
Let’s Go Mets!
