The Mets faced a tough pitcher in Julio Teheran and lost for the third time in as many games to the Braves.
Before the Mets got to Turner Field, it seemed they would need to sweep the division-rival Atlanta Braves to make themselves relevant this season. The exact opposite happened, as they lost to Atlanta on Thursday night after losing the first and second games of the series.
With Julio Teheran on the mound for the Braves and David Wright still out because of a shoulder injury, the Mets’ lineup figured to have some trouble scoring runs. It did. Jacob deGrom would probably have had to put up several scoreless innings for the team to really have a chance. He didn’t.
After giving up a leadoff single to B.J. Upton in the bottom of the first, deGrom walked the next two batters he faced to loaded the bases with nobody out. He struck out Justin Upton, though, and got Jason Heyward to fly out to shallow-enough right field that B.J. Upton could not score from third base. With two outs, Chris Johnson hit a hard double—on a play that perhaps could have been made by Eric Campbell at third base—to clear the bases and put the Braves ahead 3-0.
That pretty much ended the game, as the Braves did not score again against deGrom or the Mets’ seemingly good bullpen. Of course, the Mets struggled to score, as they managed just five hits and three walks against Teheran and the Braves’ bullpen. They scored their lone run on a sacrifice fly by Curtis Granderson in the fourth inning.
The Mets are off tomorrow and begin a three-game series with the disappointing Texas Rangers on Friday night at Citi Field. They’ll need to start a reasonably long winning streak to put themselves back on the fringe of relevancy.
SB Nation GameThreads
* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Talking Chop GameThread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: none
Big losers: Jacob deGrom, -16.6% WPA, Lucas Duda, -11.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jason Heyward’s fly out to right with the bases loaded in the first, +7.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Chris Johnson’s double, -25.0% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -11.5% WPA
Total batter WPA: -38.5% WPA
GWRBI!: Chris Johnson