Mets blow early six-run lead, allow 11 unanswered runs in nightmare loss to Braves

Yahoo

3 days ago

The season-long lack of length from starters haunted the Mets once again on Wednesday night, as an early six-run lead was astonishingly wasted in a rain-soaked 11-6 loss to the Braves at Citi Field.
Here are the takeaways...
-- The Mets' red-hot bats weren't bothered by the 95-minute delay to first pitch. A first-inning leadoff double from Francisco Lindor and a pair of walks from Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo set the bases loaded for Pete Alonso, who ripped a sinker off Carlos Carrasco to center for a two-run single. The knock from Alonso increased his RBI total to 98, tied for the highest mark in MLB. Their lead increased to 3-0 moments later, when Nimmo scored on a sac fly to right from Cedric Mullins. The Braves challenged Nimmo's tag-up, but replay review confirmed that he left third base on time.
-- Further damage was inflicted off the former Mets starter in the second, as Soto followed up a one-out single from Lindor with a towering two-run homer to center that made the score 5-0. The 407-foot blast was No. 29 on the year for Soto, and the ball was skillfully caught by a young fan seated in the front row next to the Home Run Apple. The woes didn't end there for Carrasco, either -- the veteran right-hander proceeded to allow doubles to Nimmo and Jeff McNeil, and he needed a whopping 67 pitches to record only six outs. He didn't return for the third inning.
-- The six-run cushion was appeciated by Mets starter David Peterson, who retired six of the first seven batters, but the left-hander struggled mightily to maintain any sort of groove. After narrowly escaping a bases-loaded jam in the third, the Braves tormented Peterson in the fourth with a debilitating five-run rally that included four walks and a three-run double from Jurickson Profar. The Mets mercifully pulled Peterson at 80 pitches with a two-run lead and one out in the frame, but his ERA continued to rise while he watched from the dugout.
-- Reed Garrett entered in relief and gave up a full-count RBI single to Marcell Ozuna that cut the Mets' lead 6-5 -- the fifth run charged to Peterson -- and then with the bases juiced once again, Michael Harris II smacked a two-out grand slam to dead center that stunningly placed the Braves ahead, 9-6. The nine-run implosion was the Mets' worst inning since April 2019, when they allowed 10 first-inning runs to the Phillies, and the fans who endured the hour-plus rain delay made sure their boos were amplified.
-- The Mets' misfortune appeared on the basepaths in the bottom half of the fourth. With two on and two out, a single to right from Starling Marte was all for naught when a heads-up throw from outfielder Eli White to catcher Sean Murphy nabbed a head-first sliding Alonso at home for the third out. But back to the top-half meltdown -- since June 13, the Mets rank dead last in the majors in innings pitched by their starters (h/t Anthony DiComo). Peterson's season ERA jumped from 2.98 to 3.30 (23 starts).
-- Paul Blackburn was activated off the injured list on Wednesday in a new bullpen role, and it didn't take long for the Mets to assign the veteran right-hander bulk relief duty. While his first inning of work in the fifth was blemish-free, he allowed a leadoff walk in the sixth and then served up a two-run homer to Ozuna that bumped the Braves' lead to 11-6. Blackburn turned into an effective mop-up arm from there, however, retiring 12 straight in what became a five-inning appearance that included three strikeouts (61 pitches).
-- In spite of Carrasco's mess, the Braves' bullpen stepped up in patchwork that began in the third inning. Five relievers combined to produce seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, and from the sixth inning on, the Mets saw just one runner advance into scoring position.
Game MVP: Michael Harris II
Harris' two-out grand slam in a nine-run fourth inning pushed the Braves ahead, and for the first time in Mets history, they've blown a four-plus run lead in three straight games (h/t Gary Cohen).
Highlights
What's next
The Mets (64-56) will play their rubber game against the Braves on Thursday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on SNY.
RHP Kodai Senga (7-4, 2.30 ERA) is slated to take the mound, opposite RHP Bryce Elder (4-9, 6.12 ERA).