A few weeks ago, their playoff hopes dangling by a thread, the Mets might have shuddered at the thought of a two-run deficit in the eighth inning of a critical — they’re all critical at this point — game.

Not anymore. Now fully in control of their own destiny in the National League Wild Card race, the Mets parlayed three walks, a hit batsman and a fielding error into a four-run rally in the eighth inning Friday, stealing their sixth straight win, a 6-4 victory over the Braves at Turner Field.
The victory helped the Mets retain a half-game lead over the Cardinals, who beat the Brewers, for the NL’s second Wild Card spot. It also moved the Mets back to a season-high nine games over .500 for the first time since July 7.
“We’re playing good baseball,” said Mets infielder Kelly Johnson. “As long as we’re healthy, our lineup is too good to sit still. Plus, guys have been hot at the right time.”
Trailing all evening, the Mets went ahead for the first time on Johnson’s RBI double in the eighth. Ten Mets came to the plate in the inning, turning a two-run deficit into a two-run lead.
That spoiled the early efforts of Braves starter Julio Teheran, who extended his scoreless-innings streak against the Mets to 29 before serving up Curtis Granderson’s two-run homer in the sixth. Teheran outpitched Mets rookie Robert Gsellman, who gave up four runs — including a booming Matt Kemp solo homer and a Nick Markakis two-run single — in five innings.
“[We] just couldn’t complete the drill or whatever,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “[Teheran] threw great, we had the good inning and that’s usually a game we win. That happens.”
Down to their final six outs, the Mets took advantage of two Mauricio Cabrera walks and a Dansby Swanson fielding error to load the bases with no outs in the eighth. Then came the assault. After Yoenis Cespedes brought the Mets within a run of the lead on a sacrifice fly, Granderson tied things with an RBI single and Johnson untied them with a run-scoring double.
“Right now, some things are falling our way,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “There’s no question about it. There’s no doubt about it. But that’s what you’ve got to have. We played a lot of games this year when things weren’t going our way. So we’ll take them as they’re coming.”
Teheran encountered trouble in the first when he walked Granderson to load the bases with one out. But even after falling behind 3-1 to Wilmer Flores, the right-hander remained poised and escaped the jam unscathed by inducing a double play. Teheran proceeded to retire 14 of the next 15 batters he faced before a single by Cespedes grazed Teheran’s forearm in the sixth and Granderson snapped his scoreless-innings streak vs. New York in the ensuing at-bat. Teheran exited the contest after throwing 23 pitches in the inning and 97 for the game, but he said the comebacker didn’t hamper him and he should be able to make his next start.
“I could have [continued] if I needed to, but I knew I threw a lot of pitches and I gave up two runs,” Teheran said. “I feel good. If I made a mistake, I don’t think it was because I got hit. I think it was just because I made a mistake. It wasn’t the pitch I wanted to throw in that location. Whenever you make a mistake, you pay, especially with those guys. They’ve got a pretty good lineup.”
Granderson’s sixth-inning homer off Teheran was the outfielder’s fourth in his last four games. In his last five games, Granderson has nine RBIs, though his season total of 48 would be the fewest ever for a Major Leaguer with at least 26 homers.
“Just a little bit of luck,” said Granderson, who reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances. “Sometimes you happen to connect on some balls squarely and they get a chance to drive out of the ballpark. Sometimes you don’t. Right now, they happen to be going out of the ballpark.”
Kemp ignited the Braves’ offense when he led off the bottom of the second with a homer, his sixth through his first 142 at-bats with Atlanta and his third over his past seven games. And after a three-run fifth gave the Braves a 4-0 edge, they appeared ready to pad their lead when they put runners on the corners with no outs in the sixth. But Atlanta couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. Pinch-hitter A.J. Pierzynski struck out before Ender Inciarte grounded into an inning-ending double play that thwarted the scoring chance.
The Mets pushed Bartolo Colon up a day in their rotation to accommodate Seth Lugo, who is nursing a blister on one of his fingers. Colon will face the Braves in a 6:10 p.m. CT game at Turner Field on Saturday, looking for his team-high 14th victory. He won at least 14 in each of his first two seasons with the Mets.
Atlanta will counter with John Gant, who will be making his second start since coming back from an oblique injury. The right-hander was traded from the Mets to the Braves in 2015 and delivered his most impressive start of this season in New York on June 17, when he allowed one run across 6 2/3 innings for his first career win.   Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network beginning at 6 PM.

Two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled the Nashville Sounds to a crucial 6-5 win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers in front of 6,643 fans Friday night at First Tennessee Park.

With the come-from-behind win, Nashville took control of the best-of-five American Conference Finals with a 2-1 lead. The Sounds have an opportunity to clinch a trip to the Pacific Coast League Championship Series with a win in game four Saturday night at First Tennessee Park.

After building an early 4-0 lead, Nashville’s bullpen squandered away the lead and trailed 5-4 going into the bottom of the eighth.

Shortstop Franklin Barreto greeted Dodgers’ right-hander Joe Broussard with a triple to the gap in right-center to put the tying run at third. Colin Walsh followed with a base hit to center field on a 1-0 pitch to make it a 5-5 game.

Broussard retired Renato Nunez for the first out, but then Matt Olson lined a base hit to right to put runners at first and second.

Ralston Cash relieved Broussard and promptly issued a walk to Matt Chapman to load the bases. Rangel Ravelo delivered the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice that knocked in Walsh to put the Sounds on top, 6-5.

Closer Tucker Healy was summoned by Manager Steve Scarsone and worked around a one-out walk to save it for the Sounds.

Nashville built the 4-0 advantage with a big four-run third inning. Oklahoma City starter Chase De Jong issued three walks in the inning and they came back to hurt when Nunez belted a three-run homer, his second in the series.

The Dodgers bounced back with two runs in the fourth when Corey Brown hit an opposite-field two-run homer off Nashville starter Daniel Gossett. The right-hander went 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits in a no decision.

It stayed 4-2 until the seventh when the Dodgers struck for three runs. Two runs were charged to Ryan Brasier, and the third was on Colt Hynes’ line. Cody Bellinger leveled the game with a two-run single and O’Koyea Dickson gave Oklahoma City the lead with a sacrifice fly.

Sounds’ reliever Andres Avila retired the Dodgers in order in the eighth to set up the dramatic finish.

In the regular season, Nashville was 3-48 when trailing after seven innings. Nunez finished with the three RBI and has eight in the series to match Nelson Cruz (2005) and Drew Denson (1993) for most in a playoff series in franchise history.

Avila got the win and Healy earned his second save in the series. Broussard was charged with the loss for Oklahoma City.

Game four of the best-of-five series is set for Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Donn Roach (6-6, 4.08) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Alfredo Figaro (1-0, 1.89) for the Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Tickets for the 2016 Pacific Coast League Playoffs at First Tennessee Park are available for purchase at the Nashville Sounds box office and online at www.nashvillesounds.com. The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate.