Home Cooking Doesn't Get Mets Out of the Soup

Braves 3 Mets 2 (Citi Field, Flushing)

Mets record: 46-33

Mets streak: Lost 2

Mets last 10: 1-9

WP -Spencer Schwellenbach (6-4)

LP -Paul Blackburn (0-2)

SV - Dylan Lee (2)

Seat on the Korner: Ronald Acuna Jr.

We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.

With apologies to Reggie Jackson, when it comes to the Braves, Ronald Acuna Jr. is the straw that stirs the drink, and this game was no exception. A notorious lead off-the-game-first-pitch hitter (he homered against the Mets on a first pitch last week), Acuna merely singled on the first pitch this time. He promptly stole second and made it to third by tagging on a fly out, but then was caught between third and home when a liner through the box took a bounce into Jeff McNeil's glove; McNeil threw to Brett Baty to nail Acuna. Breathe easy, right? it was only a big tease. The next time up, Acuna hit a home run, and took, shall we say, a home run trot that in olden times would have seen him tasting dirt on his next at-bat. So let's give Acuna the seat to talk to Ralph about killing the Mets, home run trots and whether he got any particular satisfaction from the homer because the Mets farmed his brother out earlier in the day.

Need to Know

• The Mets have now dropped nine of their last 10 games.

• The loss dropped the Mets' home record to 27-11.

• The Braves' Matt Olsen has reached base in 24 straight games, a major-league best; teammate Ronald Acuna Jr. is second with 19.

• Dylan Lee got the save for the Braves, amazingly their first save in 33 games.

• On Women's Night at Citi Field, it seemed almost appropriate that the Mets signed Richard "Dicky" Lovelady and added him to the roster. Lovelady, whose name sounds more like a Great Gastby character than a lefthanded reliever, was tearing it up at AAA St. Paul, with a 1.31 ERA in 19 innings. Earlier, he made two appearances with Toronto; he has spent parts of six seasons in the majors with five teams.

• Other roster moves: Luisangel Acuna optioned to AAA Syracuse, where he can get regular playing time. Taking his roster spot: Travis Jankowski, making his second Mets stint. The former Stony Brook University outfielder was featured in a New York Times/The Athletic story last week on how families deal with major league fathers who spend so much of the year away from home. Jankowski has four children, all under the age of six, and during the baseball season, his wife, Lindsey, home-schools the brood.

• The series continues Tuesday with Frankie Montas making his first start of the year, against Didier Fuentes.

• The game time temperature was 87 degrees. It promises to be even worse Tuesday night.

  
  
  
  

Turning Point

With the Mets trailing, 3-2, and Spencer Schwellenbach finished for the night, Braves manager Brian Snitker brought in closer Raisel Islegias to face the bottom of the Mets order. Iglesias got Luis Torrens and Brett Baty to ground out, but then Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo both singled, putting runners on first and third with two outs. Snitker then brought in lefty Dylan Lee to face lefthanded batter Juan Soto, one of the two hottest hitters in the Mets lineup. Soto had homered in his previous at-bat. Soto ran the count to 3-2 -- a walk would have been acceptable with the righty Pete Alonso on deck -- fouled off two pitches and then struck out swinging. It could have been a signature moment for Soto's Mets career, but instead it was another wasted opportunity for a team that has wasted a lot of them in the last few weeks.

Three Keys

A Schwell Pitching Performance

The last time Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach faced the Mets, he allowed four runs in over seven innings and took a no-decision. The four runs were uncharacteristic for the right-hander, who overall had a 1.93 ERA with 28 strikeouts in three career outings against the Metropolitans, and Monday night, he retuned to the from his previous start at Citi Field last year, when he struck out 11 while scattering two hits over seven scoreless innings. Schwellenbach was masterful against the Mets lineup. This time, he held the Mets to four hits and was hurt by one -- the home run he surrendered to Juan Soto after walking Brandon Nimmo. And yes, he continued to give the Braves length: This was his ninth consecutive game in which he went six or more innings and eighth in which he went seven innings or more, tied with Logan Webb for the most in the majors.

Bye, Bye Blackburn

On a night when the Mets needed length from their starter -- with manager Carlos Mendoza saying that the bullpen is essentially gassed -- they didn't get it from starter Paul Blackburn. The righty, who came into the game with decent numbers against Atlanta overall --a 2.63 ERA with 12 strikeouts in three starts -- struggled through four and 2/3 innings, pitching in and out of trouble. He was saved by a Ronald Acuna Jr. baserunning blunder in the first, hit a batter in the second who eventually scored on a sacrifice fly, gave up Acuna's home run in the third, as well as another sacrifice fly after a double and two walks. Run and hit-wise, not an awful outing, but having thrown 95 pitches (his season high) and with a man on third, Mendoza had no choice but to pull Blackburn and replace him with Jose Butto. Not what the Mets hoped for.

Nimmo and Soto Reman Hot

.Brandon Nimmo and Juan Soto continued their hot hitting. Nimmo ran his hitting streak to six games; he is hitting .429 over that span. Soto's home run was his eighth this month, with three doubles, 16 RBI and 21 walks in 21 games. Over the last 17 games, he is batting .363 with eight extra base hits and an OBP just under .500. Of course, that feel-good dinger was marred by what happened in the eighth inning.