The post-trade deadline Mets continue to roll. At a time in a lost season when fans of the orange and blue are more likely to be looking at draft lottery odds than playoff standings, the Amazins are now in the midst of their most successful stretch of 2026. Following a sweep of the Guardians and winning two out of three to the Pirates, the good times continued tonight in Atlanta, where the Mets faced off against the NL East-leading Braves and secured an 8-5 victory over their division rivals.
The
bats gave Braves starter Bryce Elder a rude hello in the first inning of tonight’s game. A.J. Ewing led off the game with a double (originally ruled a ground-rule double, then just ruled a regular double after several minutes of umpire deliberation for… reasons). After Francisco Lindor moved him over to third base on a groundout to second base, Bo Bichette delivered the first run of the evening with a single to left. The Mets subsequently loaded the bases thanks to a walk to Carson Benge and a single by Jared Young, respectively. Marcus Semien struck out for out number two, giving Elder the chance to get out of the inning having given up just the one run. Instead, Brett Baty deposited the first pitch he saw beyond the right-center field wall for a grand slam, giving the Mets an early 5-0 lead and making Ron Darling look like a genius.
The Braves responded with their own first inning rally against Christian Scott. Like Ewing before him, Drake Baldwin led off with a double, and he would move to third on a one-out single from Matt Olson. After striking out Michael Harris II, an eleven-pitch plate appearance from Ozzie Albies concluded with him getting hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Mauricio Dubón then capitalized with a ground ball through the third base hole, scoring two runs to make it a 5-2 ballgame. Scott struck out Austin Riley to end the frame, but he had already expended 31 pitches in just one inning of work.
The Mets continued the offensive barrage in the top of the second against Elder. For a third straight time, the inning started with a double—this time off the bat of Lindor. Elder got the next two outs on a groundout and strikeout, respectively, but Young then got his second hit in as many innings, this one an RBI single to right field to make it 6-2 Mets. That would prove to be the only run the team would score in the frame, though Semien did get a single for the team’s ninth hit in just two innings. The tenth hit would come in the third inning, after Elder recorded the first two outs of the inning to come on the verge of finally tossing a clean frame. Instead, Lindor socked a monstrous shot to deep right field, giving the Mets a five-run lead once again.
But the Braves would fight back once again. Scott held Atlanta off the board in the second and third innings, but faltered once more in the fourth. After recording the first out of the inning, a single and a walk put runners on first and second. A strikeout of Sean Murphy put Scott one out away from another scoreless frame. Instead, back-to-back two-out singles from Baldwin and Ronald Acuña Jr. brought home two runs, cutting the lead down to 7-4. Scott struck out Matt Olson to end the inning, but Andy Green elected to have that be the end of his night. Not the best line for the young Mets’ starter (4 innings, 7 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 4 earned runs).
Jonathan Pintaro—who had just been recalled to the Mets’ active roster following the placement of Devin Williams on the injured list—came on for the fifth inning, and the Braves continued to chip away. He allowed the first two batters of the inning on via a single and walk. A double play off the bat of Dubón put a runner on third base with two outs, but that runner would come around to score thanks to a wild pitch from Pintaro. With that, the lead was cut to just two runs.
The Mets’ bats, meanwhile, had gone silent; Elder managed to make it through five innings of work despite his early struggles, and Brent Suter then came on and threw three scoreless innings. Thus, the Braves gave themselves a chance to continue erasing the deficit, but the rest of the Mets’ bullpen was up to the task. Following Pintaro’s inning of work, Nate Lavender came on for the bottom of the sixth and tossed a scoreless frame. He came back on for the seventh, but quickly left after giving up a leadoff double to Harris. Daniel Duarte came on and proceeded to throw two hitless innings—thanks in part to some good defense in his second inning of work, including Francisco Alvarez making a catch against the netting in foul territory and Ewing making a diving catch on a line drive to end the eighth.
The Mets finally added on in the top of the ninth when Victor Mederos came on for the Braves. He quickly loaded the bases on a single, walk, and hit-by-pitch, and Young proceeded to get his second RBI of the game by hitting a sacrifice fly to center field. That would make it an 8-5 game, and while it would prove to be the only run the Mets would score in the inning, it would be enough. With Williams now on the injured list, Kodai Senga came on for the bottom of the frame to try to secure his first career save. He did so without much trouble, striking out the first two batters he faced and issuing only a two-out walk in his hitless inning of work to close the door.
So the Mets are now 6-1 since selling at the deadline. Will these good times continue? Eh, probably not. But on the bright side, the Mets have now won the season series against the Braves for the first time since 2017. Would not have expected that in this particular season, but beating Atlanta always feels good. Game two of the series tomorrow evening.
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Box scores
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Big Mets winner: Daniel Duarte, +27% WPA
Big Mets loser: Christian Scott and Marcus Semien, -8% WPA
Mets pitchers: +32% WPA
Mets hitters: +18% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Brett Baty grand slam in the first, +24.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Mauricio Dubón two-run single in the first, -10.2% WPA
