BRAVES 5 – METS 3
For the better part of six months the New York Mets were in first place in the NL East. And at several points this season it appeared the Amazin’s were going to ride off with the NL East crown, en route to one of the top seeds in the National League playoffs with a date set with the LA Dodgers in the NLCS. The Mets may still in fact get to the LCS, but the route to get there is much more circuitous after they were swept away by the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night.
The Braves, the defending World Series Champion Atlanta Braves, are now firmly in the drivers seat of the NL East. The Mets now have to navigate their way through the postseason as a wild card. And that begins Friday, mostly likely against the San Diego Padres, a team that has beaten the Mets five times in seven tries this season.
On Sunday the Mets were once again failed by one of their top flight starters, as Chris Bassist couldn’t hold leads of 1-0 and 3-1. He lasted only 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on three hits, including giving up the eventual game-winning hit to former Met Travis d’Arnaud.
d’Arnaud’s two-run single in the third inning gave the Braves a 4-3 lead. They would never look back. d’Arnaud hit .265 with a homer and 9 RBI against his old team this season.
As for Bassitt his poor outing follows poor outings by Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer in the most critical series of the season, an idea that seemed inexplicable just a couple months ago.
Offensively, the Mets were again in a molasse, going 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine men on base. Aside from Jeff McNeil (3-of-5 with a home run) and Daniel Voglebach (2-for-2 with a Homer and two RBI) there wasn’t much to write home about from the Mets.
The Mets finish the regular season this week against Washington at Citi Field, before welcoming the Padres into town for the Wild Card round.
