The Braves put together four hits in the third inning, with three of them being home runs, to down the Mets, 4-2, in a game delayed by rain and played in the rain drops for most of the contest. The loss drops the Mets below .500, at 18-19.
Jose Quintana set down the side in order in the first inning and allowed just a walk in the second. But it was a different story his second time thru the order. After getting a double play ball by the ninth-place hitter, Quintana served up back-to-back gopher balls to the leadoff and second-place hitter. After a walk, the cleanup hitter did just that, giving the Braves a 4-0 lead.
Francisco Lindor had a leadoff homer in the seventh inning to get the Mets on the board. Pete Alonso had an RBI single in the ninth for the game’s final run.
The Mets found hits hard to come by, as they produced just four, including two by Alonso. The fifth thru ninth hitters in the order went 0-15 with 6 Ks.
Morton seems to usually beat us and tonight he was on. One bad inning for Quintana and another nice job out of the pen. On to tomorrow!
The biggest difference between these two clubs is the quality of their lineups. Brian says the lead off hitter and the second place hitter, like they are ordinary for their lineup spot. They aren’t. The lead off hitter had 40 homeruns last year and the second place hitter had 33. The third place hitter had 37, the cleanup guy o had 54 and the DH at #5 – a real DH, not like the Mets’ – had 38, the catchers at #6 combined for close to 40, the seventh place hitter had close to 20…. you get the idea. A lineup like this needs focus and elite fastballs. Junk doesn’t cut it. There’s a reason the Phillies usually beat the Braves: they have elite heat and the Braves can’t touch it. When the Mets can have elite heat and a stacked lineup, they will be ready to slap the Braves around. Until then, one good inning by the Braves might just be enough.
Back to Citifield and the vintage Citifield offense on display once again. Yawn.
Gut Reaction: Gary said this was the 11th game that was decided by two runs. I don’t know what to make of that fact. In this game, it seems like they were losing by 10 runs. Maybe Alonso is shaking off his slump. Maybe Houser is suited to be a long relief pitcher. I hope that Scott wipes the Braves asses today.
Frankly, the Mets should have had 2 men on with McNeil coming to the plate as the winning run. JD got hosed on that 3-1 strike call, as Ron Darling strongly suggested. And JD just missed that game tying homer – so a couple of inches in the other direction and regardless of how inept the offense looked for most of the game, we could have been winners. We’ve played the Braves very close this season so far and that should be a really encouraging sign.