Mets' comeback attempt falls short against Braves
ATLANTA — One night after pulling off a stunning comeback against their NL East foes, the Mets came up one run short against the Atlanta Braves.
Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to cut Atlanta’s lead in half and the Mets scored twice in the top of the ninth against closer Raisel Iglesias. But Alonso struck out to strand Francisco Lindor and end the rally. The Braves won, 6-5, on Tuesday night at Truist Park.
Adrian Houser was roughed up, Ronald Acuña Jr. ran all over Houser and his catcher, Omar Narvaez, and Reynaldo Lopez quieted the Mets’ bats in the loss.
Acuña went 2 for 3 with a walk and three stolen bases. He came around to score all three times he got on base, his prolific speed proving advantageous for the Braves (7-3). Houser led off the game by plunking the reigning NL MVP. Acuña promptly broke for second base and Narvaez’s throw went past the base into center field. Acuña made it to third, putting him in position to score easily on a long single by Ozzie Albies.
The real damage came in the third inning when Houser gave up six straight singles to start the frame and Atlanta scored three times to go up 4-0. He got a double play to end the inning, but Acuña again caused problems for the right-hander in the fourth.
With one out, Houser walked Acuña and he stole second and then third. With two outs, Austin Riley singled to center to score him, putting the Mets in a 5-0 hole.
The Mets (4-7) have struggled more than any other team this season when it comes to holding runners on base having allowed 21 stolen bases. Narvaez has allowed 11 through five games and has yet to throw out a runner. Teams are doing their homework and know they can run.
Houser (0-1) threw 95 pitches over five innings. The Braves tagged him for five earned runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out one. It was Houser’s fifth loss against Atlanta in his seventh try.
Another short performance by a Mets starter put a depleted bullpen in a tough spot, but the team had a fresh arm in Dedniel Nuñez, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse earlier in the day. Nuñez made his big league debut at 27, holding Atlanta to one run in two innings and striking out three.
The Mets badly needed those innings, but what they needed more was offense.
Atlanta’s Lopez (1-0) threw six shutout innings, allowing three hits and walking three while striking out six. Intermittent rain made command tough for pitchers on both sides, but Lopez worked effectively the few times he had traffic on the basepaths.
With two on two out in the top of the eighth, Alonso got a hold of a 2-1 fastball from left-hander Tyler Matzek for his third home run of the season. Cole Sulser kept the Mets in the game with a scoreless eighth.
Narvaez hit an RBI double off Iglesias to bring the Mets to within two, and then the catcher scored on a groundout by Starling Marte. But Iglesias converted the save by getting Alonso to swing through a change-up for strike three.
