Braves 4, Mets 0 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets Record: 55-49
Mets Streak: L1
Mets Last 10: 6-4
WP: Spencer Schwellenbach (4-5) LP: Tylor Megill (2-5)
Seat On The Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Today's Seat On The Korner goes to Braves' starter Spencer Schwellenbach, who took on the unenviable task of facing the red-hot Mets' offense and was more than up for the challenge. Schwellenbach, who was making his first career start against the Mets, tossed seven shutout innings and allowed just two hits while racking up 11 punchouts.
Need To Know:
Today's result snapped a five-game winning streak for the Mets.
Atlanta snapped a six-game losing streak with their victory this afternoon.
The result allowed the Braves to climb back over the Mets in the National League's Wild Card standings, giving them a half-game edge over the Mets heading into tomorrow's series finale.
Prior to the game the Mets placed Kodai Senga back on the injured list with a calf strain suffered in last night's game. Manager Carlos Mendoza told the media prior to the game that the strain is a high-grade one that will likely sideline Senga for the remainder of the regular season.
Newly acquired RHP Ryne Stanek was added to the Mets' active roster today. RHP Eric Orze was optioned to AAA Syracuse to open a spot on the 26-man roster for him while LHP Josh Walker was designated for assignment to open space on the 40-man roster for him.
Megill is now 1-4 with a 4.94 ERA in his career against the Braves.
Marcell Ozuna has now homered in back-to-back games in this series after opening the scoring with his 30th home run of the season in the fourth inning.
Schwellenbach established a new career-high with 11 strikeouts on the afternoon.
Turning Point
While Ozuna's home run got the Braves going, Matt Olson's solo shot in the very next at-bat critically gave Atlanta a two-run lead. With how dominant Schwellenbach was on the mound, Olson's opposite-field blast was the turning point of this one.
Three Keys
The Bats Rested
Offense has been the key to the Mets' dramatic turnaround but the bats were nowhere to be found on Saturday, collecting only four hits and striking out 14 times. On a day where the Mets figured to need runs with Megill on the mound, getting zero was a very easy way to set up a loss.
All Eyes On Tylor
The losses of Senga and Christian Scott to the injured list have allowed Megill to re-enter the Mets' rotation and while he did provided some needed length today (six innings), giving up four runs on three homers didn't inspire a ton of confidence in Megill's ability to be a rotation member of a playoff contender. This will be Megill's final start before the trade deadline so it could influence David Stearns' thought process towards adding a starter prior to Megill's next turn in Anaheim next Friday.
The Case To Add An Outfielder
Rumors emerged yesterday that the Mets have engaged with the San Francisco Giants on trade talks to bring one-time Met Michael Conforto back to Queens. Adding Conforto (or any other left-handed hitting outfielder) would presumably come at the expense of D.J. Stewart, who went 0-for-3 with a strikeout on the day and is batting .157 (15-for-95) with one home run, five RBI and 28 strikeouts since May 1. With Starling Marte still on the shelf and Harrison Bader day-to-day with an ankle injury, Stewart is running out of chances to convince Stearns not to upgrade his roster spot before Tuesday's deadline.
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