For the second straight game, the Mets fell behind big early and then forged a comeback. This time they ran out of time, as they fell to the Braves, 6-5, Tuesday night in rainy Atlanta.
Adrian Houser allowed 5 ER in 5 IP and it could have been worse than that if not for two double plays. Recently promoted Dedniel Nunez came on to give two innings out of the pen, allowing one run as the Braves strung together three soft hits. Cole Sulser pitched a scoreless eighth to keep the Mets’ comeback hopes alive.
A three-run homer by Pete Alonso in the eighth inning got the Mets on the board and cut the deficit in half. In the ninth, the bottom of the order came up with some unlikely hits. Harrison Bader drilled a single and he came around to score on a double by Omar Narvaez. Two ground outs plated Narvaez to make it a 6-5 game.
Francisco Lindor singled, bringing Alonso up as the go-ahead run. But he struck out to end the game.
The Mets started Julio Teheran and Houser and somehow ended with a split in the first two games. Every single one of us would have signed up for that outcome before Monday’s game. With two games off for the Mets’ top relievers, the bullpen is reset. And the offense is coming to life. The Mets came to Atlanta struggling to score runs, while the Braves are one of the highest-scoring teams in the league. There was a potential for getting swept in four games. Now the Mets are in good shape to split the series and potentially win it outright.
That would be something.
Got to love the late comeback. Made you feel that anything was possible. I loved those days. They had some chances early on that they squandered or this might have been a closer game before Alonso’s HR. I would have expected 5 from Houser, just not 5 runs. Nice work by the pen. We’ve been down on Narvaez but his hit reminded us of why he and not Nido is the backup. Quintana has done a good job so I propose we win and secure a series split at worst.
The fact that Houser only gave up five runs is stunning. His pitches were in the hit zone all night long, while Lopez threw his assortment of junk on the edges or below and the Mets couldn’t resist it. Yes, the Mets have split the first two and that’s good, but hitting Acuna, giving him a batting practice fastball to hit into LF for a hit and walking him his third time up is unacceptable in the big leagues. Then, he goes and steals bases that the Mets cannot do anything about and will not do themselves. It’s incredible the Braves only scored five off of him.
Will Houser be DFA’d today?
Your comment made me chuckle. I believe that Joey Lucchesi will be back in the majors soon but I don’t think the Mets have the luxury of dropping Houser. I do believe that the Mets badly need a longer reliever on the staff full time and that is the role I had hoped Houser would play on this team.
We haven’t had a Kodai Senga update since April Fools but hopefully the Mets have their Ace back by the end of the month. Tylor Megill (who is less vital to the team) should also be back by then.
1. Kodai Senga
2. Sean Manaea
3. Jose Quintana
4. Luis Severino
5. Jose Butto/Tylor Megill
Once this rotation is rolling I think Houser or Megill in the bullpen would be a good thing for this team who needs relievers to go more than one inning.