On the first mini-skid of the season, missing Drake Baldwin and Ronald Acuna from the lineup, the Braves were hoping to level the series in Flushing behind Martin Perez.
The opening inning was a bit strange, as Sean Manaea threw 19 pitches, only 3 of which were in the strike zone, and was rewarded with a 1-2-3 frame. Matt Olson hit a single to lead off the second and Eli White brought him around with a double that could have been plausibly been scored a triple, with White ending up on third.
Things were pretty quiet for a couple of innings, as each team was puzzled by the other team’s veteran innings-eater. Eli White came back up to the plate with the game still at 1-0 in the fourth inning and hit a solo homer over the left field wall. Another couple of startlingly quiet innings later and Martin Perez got the first out of the sixth before exiting the game for Dylan Lee, leaving a man on second. Lee allowed an RBI single but got out of the inning with a 2-1 Atlanta lead. It’s another solid outing for the veteran Perez, with 5.1 innings of 1 run ball with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk. That’s a huge result to keep the Mets to 1 run and hand things over to the back of Atlanta’s bullpen though, as Atlanta’s offense is severely depleted at the moment.
Manaea exited to to start the seventh, as only Eli White and Ozzie Albies were able to hit him hard (though Ozzie’s were unrewarded). Eli White hit another double with one out in the seventh, presenting a chance for Atlanta to pull that run back, albeit for the sub-par hitters that currently comprise the back end of the lineup. Predictably, those bats were unable to deliver that run. Fortunately, the Braves had a fresh bullpen, giving themselves the best chance to convert that one run lead into a win. Didier Fuentes got the seventh against the back of the Mets’ lineup and struck out the side on 13 pitches, as the 20 year old is thriving in his bullpen role. Michael Harris II hit a solo homer with two outs in the eighth to give Atlanta a huge insurance run late.
That run was important, as Raisel Iglesias allowed a leadoff homer to Juan Soto in the bottom of the ninth… or so we thought, as a strange replay involving potential fan interference, a potential home run robbery by Yastrzemski, and a very borderline home run that ended up being ruled a double. Frankly it looked like a homer to me, but it was a couple inches away from being a clear homer, fan interference, and an out, so a double seems like a fair result on balance, with the uncertainty.
Iglesias made the lead stick with a strikeout, a walk, and a double-play.
Join us again for the rubbermatch at 1:40 PM ET tomorrow and enjoy the World Cup in the meantime!
