Winning streak ends in 4-3 loss to Mets

The Braves won the division with their sixth straight victory. They could not extend the streak to seven, as the Mets dominated a partial formation by a score of 4-3, behind the two homers of Brandon Nimmo and a good exit of Tylor Megill. No big deal, though, as this game has essentially no implications for anything. The Braves have definitely lost a lot of games like this in 2021, but that loss doesn’t sting at all, certainly not as bad as all of those other disappointing finishes.

Huascar Ynoa took the start in this match and he was electric from the start. He hit the high side of the first with just 12 pitches, only one of which was a ball. But then came Tylor Megill, and he hit the side on 11 pitches, only two of which were bullets. (By the way, the Mets are now 4-0 in games Megill started against the Braves.) Ynoa gave up his first hit of the game to lead the second, but quickly induced a double play, then a another player on the ground, also giving him a frame at 11 lengths. Megill pitched another perfect inning then passed Ynoa in the third, but Ynoa struck out Brandon Nimmo at bat on an inside slider to keep the game scoreless. The Braves got their first goalscorer against Megill when William Contreras walked up a walk with a late inning putout, but nothing else happened in that half to bring him closer to home.

For some reason, Ynoa sank into the fourth. The frame began with an eight-length walk to Francisco Lindor. After a strikeout, Pete Alonso came on and smashed a ball along the left field line, scoring Lindor first. Alonso advanced to third place on the game; he was initially called up, but for some reason the Mets challenged the play in this game of small consequences and had Alonso declared unharmed. It ended up “important” as James McCann sent a ball to the left with two strikeouts to bring Alonso home. Prior to this game, McCann had a 79 wRC + on the season and a 192 wRC + against the Braves, and I’ll be happy not to have to think about the ridiculousness of this existing factoid until next spring. After another single and a walk, the bases were loaded for Megill, but he didn’t overtake this time – instead Ynoa hit him on three right sliders, each of them swung and missed.

The Braves got their first hit from Megill, an Ozzie Albies single down the middle, late in the inning. Albies then stole his 20th sack of the season, but didn’t end up scoring either. Unsurprisingly, the Mets faced Ynoa in the fifth, with Nimmo hitting a first home run on a fastball that wasn’t inside enough. Ynoa finished the outing with three runs, including a dinger, yielded in five innings of work, to go with six strikeouts and two walks. Megill ended her night with another perfect frame – he allowed just two baserunners (one hit, one walk) and no runs in five innings, collecting six punches in the process.

Jacob Webb was Atlanta’s first reliever on the ledger and threw a scoreless frame despite allowing back-to-back shots with no outs. McCann was picked at random with one strikeout and two strikeouts kept the game 3-0. Jeurys Familia replaced Megill, took out Webb (hitting for himself, because it’s the post clinch match) and Joc Pederson, then gave the Braves their first run on a wild double throw single by Albies sequence.

The seventh was probably an intriguing round for some Braves fans, as it featured Spencer Strider making his major league debut. Strider recorded his first career bringing back pinch hitter Jeff McNeil, but then gave up his first major league run and first home run to Nimmo a few pitches later. The throw Nimmo hit his second home run of the night was quite similar to the one Ynoa had him chase after Megill’s double in the third. Strider then cleared the first single of his career, but then tipped Javy Baez on a hanging slider which became double play.

The Braves recovered that run almost immediately, as Eddie Rosario pushed Heath Hembree deep to start the bottom of the seventh. Contreras landed a two-out single, but a pincer-hitting Dansby Swanson hit while watching a cursor well above the plate to maintain a two-runner game. Like I said, the Braves had a lot of losses that looked like this earlier, and this one just lacks the same bite, even with the same things happening.

The Braves made their straight debut in this game, as Dylan Lee supplanted Strider in the eighth. Lee, unlike his compatriot called, did not give up a point: he gave up a starting single to Alonso, but a double play (the third of the game for the Braves) and a strikeout gave Lee his first. career goalless executive. . At the end of the round, against Trevor May, Ehire Adrianza smashed a dinger in the center right to bring the score to 4-3. The Braves continued to threaten, as Austin Riley strung a two-out single and moved up to third on Rosario’s bloop hustle double, but Orlando Arcia swung to a 3-0 step down the middle and hit him weakly on the left (despite a huge swing) for the third out.

Chris Martin threw a scoreless six-shot high in the ninth, which meant the Braves had to score just one run against Edwin Diaz to keep the game alive. They did not do it. Guillermo Heredia flew off, Contreras hit missing three right sliders (one hooked, two were in the dirt and essentially in the other batter’s box), and hitter Travis d’Arnaud missed a 3-2 slider. on the corner to complete the game.

The Braves will try to win number 87 tomorrow, as that did not happen today. Expect them to rest some of the other regulars (Albies and Riley played in this game). They haven’t announced a starter either, so we’ll see what happens.