ATLANTA — Coming to Atlanta, where the Mets have endured a quarter-century of horrors, was never going to be easy. “It’s going to be a story,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before Tuesday’s series opener. Considering everything the Braves have done to the Mets over the years, upending their entire season as recently as 2022, it was inevitable.
The only way to silence the narrative, Mendoza noted, would be “to take action on the ground.”
“It’s there,” he added. “Don’t try to do too much. Just keep doing what we’re doing. The rest will take care of itself.”
New York is down to one game on Atlanta with five games remaining. One more loss would give the Braves a victory, allowing them to win a deciding game if the teams finish with the same record. Two more losses could mean the Mets no longer have control of their destiny, unless the Diamondbacks lose enough to give it back to them. Either way, two more losses is the danger zone. Two more losses could require another team to help the Mets.
The Mets never led in Tuesday’s opener, trailing by three runs in a third-inning Braves comeback. The Mets committed two defensive errors in the inning — the first when Francisco Alvarez and Luis Severino nearly collided while trying to pick up a bunt, leading to a throwing error by Severino, and the other when Starling Marte got past the baseman on a near-definite single. Both allowed the Braves to score an extra base, who also had four hits that inning.
“They’re a good team,” Severino said. “That’s why they’re in this position. I wish I could have done a better job.”
Michael Harris II and Marcell Ozuna then added solo homers, and — in a symbol of the evening — even Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo was guilty of a defensive error, allowing a Gio Urshela hit to squirt under his legs for a double.
The Mets didn’t score until the seventh inning, when Mark Vientos hit a solo home run off an otherwise flawless Spencer Schwellenbach.
“There wasn’t a lot of energy to build on,” Nimmo said. “Mark did a good job hitting that home run, but there wasn’t a lot of positives.”
The Mets now need to avoid a single loss. Yes, they face National League Cy Young favorite Chris Sale on Wednesday, but Sale’s velocity was down in his last start and there’s at least some uncertainty about his effectiveness. Yes, the offense has scored just three runs in its last 17 innings, but Francisco Lindor could return to the lineup as early as Wednesday. Yes, the Mets’ wild-card lead is down to one game, but Arizona’s struggles have opened a potential back door for them to make the playoffs if all else fails.
“We still have a chance to play well,” Mendoza said. “We didn’t play well. We didn’t make a play a couple of times. We missed the goalie once. We have to turn the page. I know it’s going to be a story because it’s here in Atlanta, and we have to go out there and do it.”
“We’re still in a position where we have a chance to win a series here, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
