Josh Donaldson cracked two homers and Dallas Keuchel pitched another strong game against the Mets, leading the Braves to a 2-1 win and a sweep of the three-game series Sunday afternoon.
Donaldson hit a pop fly in the second inning that somehow left the park to give the Braves the early lead. But his homer in the seventh inning was a no-doubt missile to right center. He now has 9 HR against the Mets this year. Keuchel hurled seven scoreless innings and now has 13 shutout frames against New York.
Steven Matz pitched wonderfully and certainly deserved better than to lose because of a wind-blown, pop fly homer. He finished with 6 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB and 6 Ks.
The Mets finally put up a run in the ninth inning. Pete Alonso doubled and came around to score when Todd Frazier beat the relay throw to first to avoid the game-ending double play. Wilson Ramos extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a pinch-hit single to put two runners on. Then Joe Panik ended the game with a fundamentally sound groundout to second base.
In the second half, the Mets are 1-5 against the Braves, 1-3 against the Giants and 25-5 against everyone else.
That loud popping noise I heard was my bubble bursting this afternoon. After dreaming the little dream that the Mets can catch up to the Braves, a sweep was necessary. Well, a sweep put an end to that fantasy.
Now the Mets need to tell themselves that McNeil, Nimmo, and soon possibly Lowrie will tilt the scales and get them into the play-in game.
After sweeping the Marlins and having everything go their way, from a fly ball falling from the sky into the waiting glove of a player that took a bad route to having even the back end of the bullpen succeed, reality is the Mets just weren’t good enough to win even one of three winnable games. Now, the Cubbies come to town after being swept at home by the Nats. Let’s see which team will find itself by Thursday.
Keuchel? Isn’t that the guy I was (virtually foaming at the mouth on this here blog) urging those Mets to sign? (That’s a terrible sentence, but I’m too tired to fix it.)
They were swept, but they could/should have won all 3.
Why do The Mets hate me and want me to suffer?
I feel your pain. It is no fun losing, but losing to a franchise that has pummeled you for decades is even worse. The only antidote is to do major damage vs the Cubs, Phil’s, and Nats, minimum 6-3 or time may run out.