MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Braves, 7:10 PM (Atlanta Beatdown!)

The New York Mets roll into Atlanta for a four-game series against the Braves fresh off of an incredible sweep of the Washington Nationals in DC.

The Mets (78-61) have opened a seven-game division lead over Washington (71-68) with 23 games remaining and their magic number is down to 17.

The Mets are 17 games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 27, 2008 when Johan Santana tossed a dominating shutout in game No. 161, against the Miami Marlins.

Reigning NL Player of the Week Bartolo Colon (13-11, 4.18) will start the series opener for the Mets and he opposes right-hander Shelby Miller (5-13, 2.81) for the Braves in a 7:10 PM matchup at Turner Field.

Since August 1, the Mets lead the majors with 13 come-from-behind wins. Overall, the Mets have 35 comeback wins, tied for the fifth-most in the majors.

The Mets are tied for the major league lead in runs scored (255) and lead the majors in home runs (75), RBI (246) and slugging (.495) since July 25. They are 29-13 during that span, the second-best record in the majors, behind Toronto (30-11).

Mets Starting Lineup

Curtis Granderson – RF
Yoenis Cespedes – CF
Lucas Duda – 1B
Juan Uribe – 3B
Michael Conforto – LF
Wilmer Flores – SS
Kelly Johnson – 2B
Kevin Plawecki – C
Bartolo Colon – RHP

Going into Monday, the Mets dropped two of three to the Marlins and the Nationals completed a four game sweep of the Braves. The Nationals at that point closed the gap in the division to 4 games. The Mets then completed a fantastic sweep of their own of the Nationals, knocking them down to 7 games out. Now the Mets get to face Atlanta who have won 2 of their last 3 after dropping about two hundred in a row.

Bartolo Colon is 13-11 over 28 games, 27 starts, logging 170.0 innings with a 4.18 ERA and a league leading 190 hits. He has been on fire as of late pitching 25.0 scoreless innings over three starts and one relief appearance allowing no runs, 19 hits (which is low for his season), and 21 strikeouts (high for his season).

In three starts against the Braves he is 3-0 over 19.0 innings, 19 hits, 13 strikeouts and a 3.79 ERA. The Braves have the following numbers against Colon:

Pierzynski 15-56, 2 2B, 2 HR
Markakis 9-38
Freeman 8-18, 3 2B
Simmons 9-17, 2 2B, 3B
Swisher 6-12, 2 2B, 2 HR
Peterson 1-7, 2B
Maybin 0-4

The Mets bats draw Shelby Miller who is 5-13 over 28 starts and a 2.81 ERA over 176.1 innings. He has also tossed two complete game shutouts this year. He is coming off his worst start of the season where he allowed 7 runs, 6 earned over 4.1 innings. He has one great start and three terrible ones in his last four going a total of 0-4 over 24.1 innings allowing 17 runs, 14 earned (5.18 ERA). He’s only faced the Mets once this year and he allowed 3 ER and 8 hits over 6.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Miller: