Mets takeaways from Sunday's 7-6 win over Braves, including Kodai Senga dominating after struggling in first inning
Kodai Senga emphatically rebounded from a three-run first inning as the Mets avoided a series sweep in the series finale, a 7-6 win over the Atlanta Braves.
Four things to know from Sunday's game
1. Following a shaky first inning, Senga mowed the Braves down. He put the Mets in a 3-0 hole when -- after Ronald Acuna Jr.'s leadoff single, plus walks by Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson between Austin Riley's 6-4 fielder's choice -- his 2-2 offering to Marcell Ozuna, a four-seam fastball at 99 mph on the outside corner, got slapped down the right-field line for a bases-clearing double.
However, Senga (9-6, 3.30 ERA) ultimately bounced back in dominant fashion over the ensuing five frames -- including only two baserunners allowed from the second through sixth innings. He finished the six-inning performance by yielding three runs on four hits while striking out seven and walking two across a season-high-tying 107 pitches, including 67 for strikes, in his first MLB start against Atlanta.
2. Jeff McNeil, batting third and starting at second base, was a key cog in the Mets' two run-scoring innings. He began his 3-for-5 evening, which included a walk, by putting New York on the board with an RBI single to right field in the third inning off Yonny Chirinos that scored Rafael Ortega and cut into the Braves' 3-1 lead.
3. Ortega, who went 3-for-4 while starting in center with Brandon Nimmo sliding to left as he fully recovers from his left quad injury, ignited the Mets' six-run fifth inning with a single up the middle. Nimmo followed Ortega's lead with a knock to left field, before Francisco Lindor's 6-4 fielder's choice scored Ortega and brought the Mets within 3-2.
Chirinos eventually loaded the bases and -- after New York took the lead at 5-3 on two-out walks by Omar Narvaez and Mark Vientos, plus DJ Stewart's catcher interference by Sean Murphy -- Ortega's impact came full circle. Ortega's single to right field scored Narvaez and Vientos, padding the Mets' 7-3 lead and capping a major momentum swing.
4. Although Atlanta gave New York a scare by storming back via Murphy's seventh-inning solo shot against Grant Hartwig and Olson's two-run homer off Brooks Raley in the eighth to trail 7-6, the Mets held on. Drew Smith recorded the eighth inning's final out before Adam Ottavino entered for a 1-2-3 ninth.
Highlights
What's next
The Mets (53-65) and Braves (75-42) cross paths for the last time this season by playing a three-game series in Atlanta next Monday through Wednesday.
New York looks to build on its momentum as it closes a 10-game homestand with a three-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field.
Carlos Carrasco (3-6, 6.42 ERA) is set to start Monday's 7:10 p.m. opener on SNY.
