ATLANTA — The Mets’ pursuit of the NL East title boils down to this: Win Sunday or prepare to host the best-of-three wildcard round of the playoffs.
For a second straight night, the Mets sent an ace to the mound on Saturday and were left disappointed. But much of the blame must be shared by a lineup that looked weak against Brave’s pitching.
Max Scherzer conceded two homers and the Mets missed in a 4-2 loss at Truist Park, keeping the Braves in first place with a game in NL East. That lead is the biggest this season for the Braves, who have been chasing the Mets virtually all year.
Chris Bassitt will be tasked with keeping the Mets’ title hopes alive for NL East on Sunday. A win would even the race and give the Mets the season series over the Braves, who serve as the division’s tiebreakers. But a loss would almost bury the Mets. It would leave them two games, three remaining in the regular season, and the tiebreaker would belong to the Braves.
After showing brilliance in his first two starts from his second injury list this season, Scherzer had his worst start of the season. The right-hander was knocked out in the sixth inning after conceding four earned runs with nine hits, including two home runs. Scherzer had allowed just one run over his previous 12 innings in beating Milwaukee and Oakland.
Max Scherzer allowed four runs in the Mets’ 4-2 loss to the Braves, including giving up a two-run homer to Dansby Swanson (inset). EPO; Getty Images
But these stacked lineup Braves are a different beast.
Dansby Swanson delivered a crucial hit with a two-run homer on Scherzer in the fifth inning to put the Braves 3-2 up. The home run was the second in as many nights for Swanson, who was among three players to homer against Jacob deGrom on Friday.
Scherzer’s hole deepened in the sixth on Matt Olson’s leadoff homer that extended the Braves’ lead to 4-2. Olson also scored against deGrom the night before.
Dansby Swanson laces the go-ahead two-run homer for the Braves in the fifth inning of the Mets Loss.EPA
The Mets barely fought offensively after the fifth inning. Dylan Lee, Jesse Chavez, Raisel Iglesias and Kenley Jansen dominated in relief, keeping the Mets by one hit in the last four innings. It was the second straight night the Mets were held to two runs.
The Mets made a run in the first inning on Eduardo Escobar’s RBI groundout with bases loaded against Kyle Wright, but missed a big inning opportunity. Brandon Nimmo led the game with a single, and Pete Alonso went ahead of Jeff McNeil’s single with an out that loaded the bases. After Escobar was knocked out, Daniel Vogelbach landed on Wright to end the inning.
Scherzer avoided trouble in the third when Nimmo sprinted to left center and snapped Michael Harris’ 106-mile line drive for the third out. Swanson’s single by Francisco Lindor’s Glove had runners in the corners.
Olson’s RBI single in the fourth tied the score 1-1. Austin Riley doubled the inning before Olson delivered to left field for his 98th RBI of the season. But any thoughts of further Braves damage in the inning were largely dashed by Travis d’Arnaud’s double play grounder. Scherzer handed a double to Marcell Ozuna but escaped the inning.
Jeff McNeil, who went into the night with a .322 batting average (second to Freddie Freeman’s .327 in the National League), hit an RBI single in the fifth for his second hit of the game and gave the Mets a 2-1 lead. Alonso and Lindor got ahead of McNeil one by one to start the two-out rally. McNeil was 2-for-4 on Saturday to take his average to a .323.