Saturday marked the start of the final weekend of the season for the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves who took the field for the penultimate game of the regular season on Saturday night in Atlanta, Georgia.
Carlos Carrasco (1-4, 5.75 ERA) got the ball for the Mets against Jesse Chavez (3-2, 2.14 ERA).
It was a rough game for the Mets with not much happening offensively early. They did not collect a run until the sixth inning, with their biggest comeback attempted in the eighth and ninth innings in a 6-5 loss to the Braves.
It was a hallmark night for Francisco Lindor who collected his 1000th hit, a triple in the eighth.
Both pitchers got off to a strong start. Chavez retired the Mets in order in the top of the first and Carrasco retired three of four batters he faced, allowing just a two-out single to Freddie Freeman who the Braves left stranded at first.
The Braves went to their bullpen early as Drew Smyly came in to replace Chavez on the mound for the Braves in the third inning.
Things began to unravel a bit for Carrasco in the third. After two quick outs, he gave up a solo home run to Joc Pederson to center field to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Orlando Arcia then doubled, followed by an RBI double by Freeman to center field to extend the Braves’ lead over the Mets to 2-0 in the third. A strikeout of Dansby Swanson got Carrasco out of the inning.
Smyly gave the Mets a chance to close the scoring gap in the fourth as he walked two in the inning, but the Mets left two more stranded and continued to struggle offensively with runners in scoring position.
Carrasco continued to fall apart in the fourth as the Braves continued to roll. He gave up lead-off single to Eddie Rosario to open the inning. After retiring the next two batters he faced, William Contreras hit a two-run home run to extend the Braves’ lead over the Mets to 4-0. Carrasco then struck out Smyly to end the inning..
Carrasco continued to struggle in the fifth. He walked two with one out and gave up a two-out RBI single to Rosario to right field to extend the Braves’ lead over the Mets to 5-0 in the fifth. After a mound visit, Carrasco retired Adrianza to get out of the inning, but not before the Braves extended their lead over the Mets.
Heading into the sixth inning it was 5-0 Braves over the Mets.
The Braves went back to their bullpen in the sixth. A.J. Minter came in to replace Smyly.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].