Mets Get Coal in Their Stockings on Christmas in July Night

Braves 1 Mets 0 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 46-63

Mets streak: Lost 1

WP-Chris Sale (12-6)

LP-Christian Scott (3-3)

S- Raisel Iglesias (22)

Seat on the Korner: Chris Sale

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

As good as Christian Scott was in this game, Chris Sale was better. Sale put on a master class in pitching, twice striking out the side in his six innings (with three more to bring his total to nine), walked none, allowed only two hits and showed again why he has been an ace throughout his career. Sale entered the game with an 11-6 record and a 2.19 ERA, third in the majors; he lowered the ERA to 2.08 after this outing. This was the 17th consecutive start in which Sale has allowed three runs or less. Sale has never lost to the Mets, pitching to a 4-0 record with a 2.09 ERA (10 ER/43.0 IP) across seven career starts...His teams are 6-1 in these turns, with the only loss being a 10-inning defeat in 2024. So take a seat next to Ralph, Chris, and talk a little pitching with one of the game's best power hitters.

Need to Know

• RHP Jonathan Pintaro, the the 27th player for today’s doubleheader, warmed up in the bullpen but never saw action.

• The loss ended the Mets' four-game winning streak.

• It was the 10th time the Mets have been shut out the year and the second time they lost 1-0.

• The Mets are now 5-5 since the All-Star break and 11-16 since Andy Green replaced Carlos Mendoza as manager.

• A.J Ewing was able to bask in the glow of his between-games Seat on the Korner. Manager Andy Green kept lefty-batting Ewing out of the starting lineup against tough lefty Chris Sale.

• Tyrone Taylor, who went hitless in the first game, batting in the sixth position, hit fifth in the nightcap lineup. It was the highest Taylor had hit since September 4, 2024. Taylor went 0-2 with a walk.

• Francisco Alvarez was the DH. Going into the game, In 14 games as a designated hitter, Alvarez has batted .321/.379/.528 with three home runs, two doubles, seven RBI and a .907 OPS. He. too, went hitless.

• The Florida Marlins come to town Thursday for four games. Nolan McLean gets the start.

Turning Point

In a pitchers' battle like this game was, it's easy to call the first run the turning point. But we'll all the turning point a bad break -- or, more specifically, a broken bat. After Braves shortstop Jim Jarvis doubled to lead off the sixth, Mets starter Christian Scott threw a low and away sinker that Braves catcher Drake Baldwin reached for, breaking his bat on contact as he sent a dribbler between third and short that Francisco Lindor, shading toward second against the left-handed Baldwin, couldn't get two on time. First and third, nobody out. Scott did strike out Ronald Acuna Jr, but Matt Olson grounded one up the middle to drive in Jarvis with the first -- and only -- run.

Three Keys

Great Scott

Christian Scott continues to impress. Scott went six innings for the first time this year, sailing through the first four, hitting a bit of a speed bump in the fifth and finally yielding a run in the sixth before grittily working out of trouble to avoid any further damage. Scott has 24 career major league starts, and has allowed four or fewer runs in each of them. This was Scott's third start against the Braves, and while he has yet to notch a W, his ERA against Atlanta is 2.25, with 22 strikeouts in 16 innings and seven walks. Scott has struck out at least seven batters in each of his starts against the Braves.

Key to Scott's success in this game, particularly in the early innings, was throwing strikes. But as the game wore on, the Braves started working the count better against Scott. Pitches per at bat has been a sore spot for Scott; if he can keep that down, he will continue to go deeper in games, something the Mets desperately need.

Bullpen Battle

Justifiably, we continue to sing the praises of the Mets' bullpen, and it didn't disappoint in this game: scoreless innings from A.J. Minter, Cionel Perez and Daniel Duarte. That makes five games in which the Mets' pen has not allowed a run, and no runs over the last 17.2 innings.

But we also feel compelled to give a shoutout to the Braves bullpen, with scoreless innings from closer Raisel Islesias, Dylan Lee and Didier Fuentes, who gets this game's Pedro Feliciano Always Available Award. In a time when relievers rarely pitch on consecutive days, Fuentes pitched in consecutive games on the same day. What's next? Someone channeling their inner Wilbur Wood and starting both games of a twin bill?

Luis Robert Jr.: One true OUT-come

My colleague Mark Rosenman used this space in the first game recap to justifiably chronicle the failures of Jorge Polanco, who mercifully did not show his bat in this game. But we'll single out another non-producing offseason acquisition, Luis Robert Jr., who is the classic three-true-outcome batter at a time when even the sabremetricians are backing away from the three true outcome mantra.

Yes, Robert hits his towering homes runs. But on this homestand, Robert is 2-15 (that's a .133 average), with six strikeouts. Robert struck out twice in his four at-bats in this game and also made the last out of the game, a fly ball to left. The opinion in this quarter is the occasional boomer does not fully mitigate a .200 batting average.