Brandon Nimmo crushes walk-off homer to give Mets win, avoid sweep
NEW YORK — In the final game of a three-game series, the Mets didn’t go down against the Atlanta Braves without a fight.
Brandon Nimmo teed off on left-hander A.J. Minter with one on and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to help the Mets walk off with a 4-3 win over the Braves and avoid a sweep.
Jeff McNeil led off with a bunt single and was moved over to second by Tomas Nido. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Nimmo, who came off the bench because of intercostal soreness, connected on a cutter from Minter, sending it into the visitor’s bullpen.
Pete Alonso went 2-for-4 with two RBI doubles, DJ Stewart went 2-for-3 with a run batting from the leadoff spot for the first time this season and Francisco Lindor had two hits and scored a run.
Alonso’s two doubles came off right-handed starter Bryce Elder. He doubled home Stewart in the third to tie the game at 1-1. After Atlanta went ahead 2-1 in the sixth, Lindor doubled off Elder to lead off and Alonso doubled him home.
Elder allowed two earned runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings before being removed with one out in the sixth and Alonso at second. Left-hander Aaron Bummer struck out Tyrone Taylor, then walked Harrison Bader to keep the inning alive and put two on with two out.
But McNeil grounded out to strand the runners. In the seventh, Reed Garrett picked off Ronald Acuña Jr., getting a big second out. Starter Luis Severino picked off Acuña in the fifth inning, eliminating the threat from one of the premier baserunners in the game.
Again, the Mets stranded runners in the bottom of the seventh, with Alonso sending a fly ball to center field for the third out with runners on the corners.
Zack Short grew up a Mets fan and realized a dream when he was named to the team’s Opening Day roster. But Sunday at Citi Field, the utility infielder scored both runs for the Braves.
Short walked to lead off the the top of the sixth and the top of the eight and was driven in by Marcel Ozuna both times. The first run was charged to right-hander Severino, who pitched well enough to give the Mets a chance to win.
Severino pitched into the sixth inning, holding the Braves to two earned runs on four hits, walking three and striking out four.
Right-hander Adam Ottavino gave up the second single to Ozuna. After a stretch of nine straight appearances without an earned run, Ottavino has allowed four in his last four outings.
Edwin Diaz kept the game to within one run with a scoreless ninth to earn the win (1-1).
The Mets (19-20) are in a stretch of 10 straight games against divisional opponents and a sweep this weekend dropped them below the Washington Nationals to put them in fourth place. They have a chance to pick up some valuable wins this week with four games against the NL East-best Philadelphia Phillies, starting Monday.
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