Behind a three-run first inning, it seemed the Braves were going to carry their Saturday momentum right into Sunday afternoon’s home game against the New York Mets.
Then they were held scoreless for the next seven innings.
Facing a seven-run deficit after the Mets posted a five-run top of the ninth, the bats awakened but came up just short of a remarkable comeback in a 10-9 loss which snapped Atlanta’s two-game winning streak.
The first four batters of the Atlanta ninth reached before Drake Baldwin
lifted his first career grand slam just over the wall in left. It was just his second homer in 16 games since coming off the injured list, coming a day after he earned his first All-Star nod.
A Matt Olson double followed by a wild pitch, a Michael Harris II infield single and a Mauricio Dubón single to left put the tying run on third base and winning run on second base with two outs. But Dominic Smith struck out, bringing the Braves up just short in the first major league game since 2019 in which both teams scored five-plus innings in the ninth inning.
Had the Braves won, it would have been the first time since 2000 that a team rallied from seven-plus runs down in the ninth inning to win a major league game.
Early on, the Braves’ offense appeared poised to carry over its momentum from Saturday’s 14-3 thrashing. After a leadoff hit-by-pitch of Baldwin, Ozzie Albies gave Atlanta two runners in scoring position with a double to right and Michael Harris II brought them both home with one-out single which made it 2-1 Braves.
After a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, Dubón extended the lead to 3-1 on an RBI single to center.
But after getting to Mets starter Nolan McLean early, he settled in and sent the Braves back to their ineffective June form at the plate.
The Braves managed just two hits over the next five-plus innings against McLean, who bounced back from a rocky first to allow five hits and three runs (two earned) over six innings, striking out five and walking one.
Things didn’t get better from there against the Mets bullpen. After Austin Riley’s bloop single to lead off the bottom of the seventh chased McLean, Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver each retired three straight batters to get through the eighth inning.
Huascar Brazoban struggled through the ninth, managing just one out and forcing the Mets to use closer Devin Williams, who allowed three hits before finally finishing off the Braves one hit away from what would have been a stunning loss.
Things started poorly for Martín Pérez when he allowed one run and stranded two on base in the first inning after the first four batters of the game reached base.
They got worse in the second when the Mets tagged him for four runs, putting the first five batters of the inning on base to give New York a 5-3 lead.
From there, Pérez settled in quite well, retiring the next nine batters he faced. Unfortunately, the ninth batter he faced in that span was Juan Soto, who hit a liner off his left forearm and forced him to exit the game after 4 1/3 innings.
It wasn’t a good start for Pérez (6-6), who allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits. But it appeared to be headed for a disastrous start which he slightly salvaged.
Now to wait and see the severity of the injury and if the Braves’ rotation depth will be further tested.
The cold streak at the plate was especially unfortunate for the Braves as the lesser bullpen arms rose to the occasion of the larger load thrust upon them by Pérez’s early exit for most of Sunday’s game.
Tyler Kinley got the final two outs of the fifth before Danny Young and Dylan Dodd followed with a scoreless inning apiece. Carlos Carrasco, called back up Sunday morning, threw a scoreless eighth before he was hit hard for five runs on five hits in the top of the ninth to give the Mets some major insurance which they wound up needing every single run of.
The defeat denies the Braves their first three-game winning streak in a month’s time.
Now Atlanta will need to win Monday night with Reynaldo López on the mound if it wants to win this four-game series instead of what would be a disappointing split.
