Braves 7 Mets 0 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets record: 52-63
Mets streak: Lost 1
WP - Charlie Morton (11-10)
LP - Tylor Megill (6-6)
Seat on the Korner:
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.
Eddie Rosario had the big blow tonight: A two run single in the 4th with a third run scoring on an error to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. He drove in a third run on a double in the 6th as the Braves outclassed the Mets on Friday night.
Need to Know
Francisco Lindor was scratched due to right side soreness. Lindor had played in every game this season.
Charlie Morton walked seven batters in his five innings of work and somehow didn't give up any runs. The Mets would wind up leaving 14 runners on base and were 0-for-12 with RISP.
The Mets walked nine times and were shut out. The only other time that has happened to the Mets was in 1976 when J.R. Richard walked 10 Mets in an extra inning win for Richard.
Tylor Megill was up and down in his start. He threw three shutout innings to start the game. But gave up six runs (five earned) in his remaining two and a third, giving up nine hits and a walk in total to Atlanta.
Mark Vientos had two singles in his four at-bats.
Austin Riley drove in two runs on a sac fly, and a home run in the 5th inning. He would go 3-for-4 on the night, a triple short of the cycle.
Jeff McNeil made his first career appearance in center field in the 8th inning. He had played three games in center in the minors and 21 in college. McNeil made two putouts for the second and third outs in that 8th inning.
Turning Point
After Megill threw three scoreless innings, the Braves were starting to hit him around a little bit in a 0-0 game. After Ozzie Albies struck out to start the inning, Austin Riley doubled, Matt Olson blooped a single to left (Riley held at second), and Travis d'Arnaud hit a ball hard that went right to Nimmo for the second out. Megill then induced some soft contact from Marcell Ozuna.
But it was too soft.
The Tomas Nido Special extended the inning, and Eddie Rosario responded with a two run single which also brought in a third run on a Brandon Nimmo error.
Three Keys
How is this possible?: Charlie Morton threw 105 pitches in 5+ innings. 53 were balls, 52 were strikes. That seems unheard of. But against the Mets, it makes sense. Two walks in the first, Daniel Vogelbach strikes out to end the inning. Two singles to lead off the second, Braves get a Danny Mendick double play, and then after another walk, a fly out by Brandon Nimmo.
Two walks with one out in the third were followed by another Vogelbach strike out and a pop out by Vientos. Two walks in the fourth led to a flyout by Francisco Alvarez to end that inning. Morton had a 1-2-3 fifth, but it was marked by a great play by Michael Harris II ...
... then ended the inning with this nonsense:
Making strides: Tylor Megill took a step forward tonight. It wasn't a great night for his ERA, but his fastball had jump to it, and there was some soft contact that victimized him in that fourth inning. He still has a long way to go, but there was something to work with there.
Jimmy Yaks: All you can really hope for these days is that nobody's arm falls off. With a doubleheader tomorrow, the Mets will need all hands on deck just to get through, especially if Denyi Reyes is one of the starters tomorrow. Jimmy Yacabonis throwing 55 pitches in the final 3 and 2/3's innings is a huge help to a staff that's just trying to do all it can to get through the season in one piece, as the rest of the pen will now have two days off in preparation to face the best offense in the National League.