O Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-3 on a dramatic two-run home run by Brandon Nimmo in the bottom of the ninth at Citi Field on Sunday night. As a result, they avoided a three-game sweep and got back to .500 on the season.
Five conclusions
1. It looked like another night of offensive frustration when lightning struck the Mets in the ninth inning. The winning rally started with Jeff McNeil hitting a ball for a leadoff single. After Tomas Nido After making a sacrifice bunt, Nimmo reached base for the first time in the game, having come on as a pinch runner an inning earlier, and hit a left-handed home run AJ Minter over the fence in the center right.
two. Luis Severino gave the Mets a solid but relatively short start, giving up two runs in five-plus innings, slightly increasing their ERA to 3.00 for the season. For the second time in a row, walks were a problem for Severino. After walking six on the Tampa Bay Rays, he walked four in this game. It hurt more on the sixth when he walked Zach Curto at the start of the inning, then gave up a single to Matt Olson before being removed from the game after 94 pitches. Short appeared to score Marcell OzunaThe ground ball is simple in the middle. Severino seemed to perform well, with a fastball that reached 97.6 mph, according to Statcast, and had 12 swing-and-miss results, but he had some trouble putting hitters away, finishing with 4 strikeouts on the night.
3. Reed Garrett continues to be the surprise story of the season for the Mets, providing another dominant appearance out of the bullpen. Relieving Severino with runners on first and second and no outs in the sixth inning, Garrett gave up a ground-ball RBI single to Ozuna but then struck out the next three batters, two with his signature splitter, to escape further damage. He returned to pitch a scoreless seventh inning as well, lowering his ERA to 0.43 on the season. In 21 innings across 14 starts, Garrett now has 35 strikeouts.
4. It looked like a night when the Mets’ effort to improve on their worst caught stealing percentage in MLB was paying dividends, as they won twice Ronald Acuña Jr. from first base, but the stolen base ended up being costly. It happened later Adam Ottavino walked Short to lead off the eighth inning. Ottavino is notoriously slow in his delivery, and after passing to first twice, Short stole second easily, and this proved crucial when Ozuna scored up the middle to hit Short with the go-ahead run.
5. Mets’ top prospect Jarred Kelenic got the Braves on the board first with a solo home run in the second inning by Severino. It was just Kelenic’s second home run of the season, as he has yet to live up to the hype he once had as a potential. The Seattle Mariners, who acquired Kelenic in Edwin Diaz trade, gave up on him last offseason and traded him to the Braves. His numbers have been a little bitter this season, but still below league average, at least judging by his OPS-plus number. He started the night with a .680 OPS.
Who is the MVP?
Nimmo was kept out of the lineup as a warning against his intercostal strain and ended up being the hero of the night for the Mets, entering the game as a pinch runner for DJ Stewart in the seventh inning and then in the ninth. Facing Minter, Nimmo increased the count to 3-2 and then pulled a 90 mph cutter over the fence in right center.
Highlights
What is the next
The Mets face the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday at 7:10 pm on SNY.
Sean Manaea (2-1, 3.31 ERA) and Christopher Sanchez (2-3, 3.22 ERA) are in line to start.
