MLB: Atlanta Braves at New York Mets

Game recap September 21: Erase this one from your memory (trust me)

WHO WON:

The navy-colored not-Mets

WHAT HAPPENED, NOTHING REALLY MATTERS:

Things looked great for the first six innings of this one. Asdrubal Cabrera and Rene Rivera used the long-ball to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Bartolo Colon was doing Bartolo Colon things, as he allowed no runs, walked nobody and struck out six batters. But, like all good things must, that came to the end once the seventh inning rolled around. After everything was said and done, Colon would surrender a two-run homer to Anthony Recker only to be pulled from the game two batters later. That doesn’t necessarily diminish Colon’s solid overall start, but it did signify the start of the Atlanta Braves clawing their way back into the game. A fielding error to start off the eighth by James Loney put the tying run on base, a run that would later come around to score on a Matt Kemp sacrifice fly. One inning later, the Braves finally overtook the Mets after a Jace Peterson single to lead off the inning. The Mets had the game in hand up until the seventh inning, but I guess this kind of thing is just comes with the territory of being swept by the Braves? That, and Terry Collins. Both probably play a hefty role, who knows.

WHAT HAPPENED, THE FINAL TWO CHARGES:

So though the Mets lost, it isn’t like they just rolled over. In the eighth inning Yoenis Cespedes put a charge into a fly ball to left field. Though it didn’t quite leave the field, it did leave Matt Kemp’s glove and find its way onto the ground—resulting in a double for Cespedes. Sure he should’ve been on third, but after the Braves intentionally walked Curtis Granderson, Cespedes would steal the base anyways. In the end, the fact that Cespedes only got a double probably helped the Mets get Granderson on base. Though neither scored after a strikeout by T.J. Rivera and Kevin Plawecki ended the Mets rally. Then came the ninth inning, and this effort was much smaller than the one in the previous inning. Brandon Nimmo led off the inning with a single, however Jay Bruce would swiftly follow that up with a strikeout. Next was Travis d’Arnaud who, representing the winning run, walked. The tying and winning runs were on base and, following an Cabrera flyout, would bring Cespedes to the plate. Cespedes put a charge into a flyball deep to right center. It was hit hard, it sounded like a homer, it looked like a homer, then something awful happened. It fell into the glove of Ender Inciarte. Ballgame over. Sweep clinched. Mets fans? Sad. Very sad.

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

The Mets, clearly wanting to make this Wild Card race interesting, dropped a third straight game to the Atlanta Braves. You might be thinking, “Hey, that seems counter-productive when you’re trying to make the playoffs. That team is in last place.” To that I respond, yeah. It’s just that, I…yeah.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

The Mets will look to have a better fortune against a sub-.500, bad NL East team—this one being called the Philadelphia Phillies. Seth Lugo will face off against Adam Morgan as the Mets start their final home series of the 2016 regular season. More importantly, however, the Mets still remain in a three-way tie with the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. Hopefully the Mets can use their weak schedule down the stretch to pull ahead of the group.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

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