Braves vs Mets Final Score: Dominant but Pyrrhic 9-2 victory for Atlanta

In an important matchup for the standings between two long-time rivals, we had a solid matchup between Reynaldo Lopez for Atlanta and David Peterson for the Mets.

The pitchers dominated through the top of the third inning, with only a few runners on base. The Braves’ batters struggled especially, striking out five in their first three innings. The Mets posed the game’s first major threat in the final inning, with a leadoff double followed by a walk. Lopez managed to avoid losing runs with two grounders and a fly ball. As so often happens in baseball, a missed opportunity for one team turns into a breakthrough for the other. Atlanta got a leadoff walk from Austin Riley and a bloop single from Marcell in the fourth, and Matt Olson hit a three-run home run to give the Braves a commanding lead.

A walk by d’Arnaud, a single by Nacho and a walk by Arcia on a wild pitch gave Atlanta a 4-0 lead. The bad news for Atlanta today was that Reynaldo Lopez left the game with forearm stiffness after finishing his third inning, while Dylan Lee took over in the bottom of the fourth. Lee allowed a one-out double, but kept the Mets scoreless for the time being.

After a fairly lifeless fifth inning for the Braves, Lee held the Mets scoreless, despite a double with huge assists from Ramon Laureano and Travis d’Arnaud, while Taylor tried to score from second base on a ground single, but was felled by a perfect pitch and a tag to keep the shutout alive.

The Braves’ offense was no better than Pierce Johnson’s sixth-inning mound, which held the Mets off the board in an efficient 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. The Mets turned to one of their new additions in the seventh, Ryne Stanek, who gave up a leadoff home run to Orlando Arcia, giving the Braves a nice insurance run. Stanek struck out Rosario before drilling Adam Duvall in the ribs with a fastball and then giving up another home run to Austin Riley to make it 7-0.

AJ Minter got the seventh inning and had no problem getting around a walk for a scoreless inning. A nice single down the opposite line by Travis d’Arnaud and another home run, this time by Ramon Laureano, gave Atlanta a huge 9-0 lead. The recently healed Jimmy Herget got the eighth inning and spoiled the shutout with a walk to Nimmo and a home run on a fastball up the middle to Pete Alonso, but struck out Vientos to end the inning. Atlanta’s top order went down in order in the ninth inning and Herget got a second run, considering the score.

Herget led off the scoreless game, shutting down the Mets and giving the Braves a 1.5-game lead in the standings. It’s a big road win for now, but Lopez’s injury will be something to keep an eye on.

Join us again tomorrow at 8:10pm ET in Milwaukee.