Brandon Nimmo’s big night, DJ Stewart’s homer push Mets to thrilling win over Braves
The Mets rallied to pull off a thrilling 8-7 win over the Atlanta Braves in their first divisional matchup of the season on Monday night at Truist Park.
Here are some takeaways...
- The Mets’ offense failed to take advantage of early opportunities against Braves starter Charlie Morton, but they were finally able to get to him in the middle innings. After the righty issued back-to-back walks leading off the fifth, Brandon Nimmo demolished a game-tying three-run homer deep to right into the Chop House.
Nimmo would come to the plate with the Mets trailing again in the seventh, and he crushed another game-tying homer, this one to dead center off fellow left-hander AJ Minter. The outfielder came through again an inning later, as he worked a terrific at-bat and lined an RBI single up the middle to cap off a three-run inning.
Nimmo has gotten off to a bit of a slow start at the plate, but he was on base five times with four hits and a walk while also driving in five runs in a breakout night at the plate.
- The other two runs in that eighth-inning rally came courtesy of a DJ Stewart two-run home run to dead center, which put New York in front for the first time. The go-ahead longball came at a perfect time for the left-handed hitting DH, as he had been stuck in an 0-for-12 stretch to start the season.
- Julio Teheran got off to a strong start during his Mets debut, striking out a pair over his first two scoreless innings, but he was roughed up in the third. The Braves made him pay for back-to-back walks, as Ozzie Albies drove in two with a double and Marcell Ozuna brought him home with a two-run home run. The righty allowed four runs on six hits while walking two and striking out three across just 2.2 innings but ended up being bailed out by his offense.
- With the majority of their big arms being used during the weekend series against the Reds, the Mets' bullpen found themselves very shorthanded in this one. Right-hander Reed Garrett stepped up phenomenally, allowing just one hit and striking out five across 2.2 scoreless innings behind Teheran.
Cole Susler allowed one run across an inning of work in his first outing since being called up from Triple-A, before handing the ball to Jake Diekman, who used a big double play ball to help him escape a jam. Drew Smith bent but didn't break protecting the lead in the eighth, as he walked in a run but was able to get Austin Riley to ground out to third to strand the bases loaded.
Jorge Lopez got the ninth looking to secure his first save as a Met and the Braves knocked him around, as Matt Olson led off the inning with a double. After Tyrone Taylor robbed Ozuna of extra bases with a terrific catch in front of the left-field fence, Harris lined an RBI single to cut the lead to one, but Lopez was able to get Orlando Arcia to pop out and Travis d'Arnaud to fly out to secure the victory.
- Brett Baty continued his red-hot stretch at the plate, as he picked up three more hits across five plate appearances to improve to 8-for-18 during the road trip.
Highlights
Upcoming schedule
The Mets and Braves continue their series as Adrian Houser takes the ball against Reynaldo Lopez on Tuesday at 7:20 p.m.
