To keep pace with the Cardinals and Giants in the National League Wild Card race, the Mets understand they must take advantage of every opportunity. Less than two weeks to go in the regular season. No slip-ups now.
But the Mets allowed a prime opportunity to fall through their fingers this week at Citi Field, losing a 4-3 game to the Braves on Wednesday that completed a series sweep for Atlanta. Taking a three-run lead into the seventh inning, the Mets lost it amidst a lengthy string of pitching changes and pinch-hit plate appearances, going behind for good in the ninth.
Yoenis Cespedes nearly won the game for the Mets on a walk-off, three-run homer in the ninth, but center fielder Ender Inciarte robbed him with a leaping catch at the wall. The resulting win was the sixth in a row for the Braves at Citi Field and their fifth straight overall.
According to Statcast™, Cespedes’ drive had an exit velocity of 101.7 mph and a launch angle of 28 degrees. Batted balls with those traits go for a hit 84 percent of the time and a home run 72 percent of the time.
Inciarte broke a lot of Mets fans’ hearts with his amazing grab
Inciarte had a first step of -0.73 seconds on the play, which means he was actually moving before the crack of the bat. He reached a top speed of 19.2 feet and covered 104 feet.
The loss ensured the Mets would remain tied with the Cardinals, who lost earlier Wednesday, while temporarily dropping them a half-game behind the Giants in the NL Wild Card race.
Jumping out to a 3-0 lead on Asdrubal Cabrera’s two-run homer in the first inning and Rene Rivera’s solo shot in the fifth, the Mets seemed as if they might cruise to victory from there. But an Anthony Recker two-run shot in the seventh inning brought the Braves back within a run of the lead, before a Dansby Swanson single chased starter Bartolo Colon from the game.
Mets manager Terry Collins made a series of unorthodox bullpen decisions at that point, bringing setup man Addison Reed into the game in the seventh, lefty specialist Josh Smoker in the eighth and, with the game on the line, closer Jeurys Familia in the ninth. The moves backfired when Matt Kemp tied things with a sacrifice fly off Familia.
An inning later, with Familia still in the game, Inciarte hit a go-ahead RBI groundout.
The Braves executed almost perfectly to get the winning run home in the ninth. After Jace Peterson led off with a single, manager Brian Snitker had Swanson bunt Peterson to second base. Pinch-hitter Emilio Bonifacio followed with a single to shallow left, but third-base coach Bo Porter had to hold Peterson at third. Inciarte followed with a slow grounder past the mound that allowed Peterson to score.
Freddie Freeman’s fourth-inning single off Colon gave the Braves’ first baseman a 41-game on-base streak, equalling the longest by his mentor, Chipper Jones. Only two players in Atlanta Braves history and three in franchise history have had longer streaks: Gary Sheffield, 52 games in 2002; Dale Murphy, 48 games in 1987; and Hank Aaron, 43 games for the 1962 Milwaukee Braves.
After the Mets coughed up the lead in the top of the eighth, they had an opportunity to take it right back in the bottom of the inning. But Cespedes did not run hard out of the box on his one-out double, which saw Kemp leap at the wall in an unsuccessful catch attempt. The Braves loaded the bases on intentional walks, before pinch-hitter Kevin Plawecki struck out on five pitches — four of them outside the strike zone — to end the threat.
Recker caught Colon in 17 games with the Mets from 2014-15. He got in the batter’s box against Colon for the first time in a game on Wednesday night and helped make it close with a two-run home run. Recker left the Mets as a free agent last offseason and signed with the Indians, then was acquired by the Braves in May.
The Braves move on to Miami, where they’ll play their final four road games of the season. Right-hander Josh Collmenter (2-0, 4.61 ERA), who beat the Nationals in his Braves debut, starts Thursday night’s 6:10 CT series opener at Marlins Park. Right-hander Jose Urena (4-7, 5.59 ERA) starts for the Marlins. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning at 6 PM on the Braves Radio Network.
