Braves vs. Mets Series Wrap

The New York Mets are in first place for a reason. They have very good pitching. They have a good bullpen, and they don’t have to worry about it blowing close games for them. Plus, they have a decent hitting lineup all the way through. The Atlanta Braves put up a good fight against them however. They split the series, and the doubleheader. Their main problem was relief pitching. A trend that we’ve seen haunt them throughout the entire 2021 season thus far.

Game One: Kyle Muller vs. Jacob DeGrom, Braves lost 4-2

Jacob DeGrom is a very tough pitcher to face, and the Braves got to experience him first hand. The Braves got one hit and two walks off of DeGrom. One of the walks that he surrendered to the Braves was to Atlanta’s pitcher Kyle Muller. In his first major league plate-appearance, Muller drew an eight pitch walk off of Mets ace, Jacob DeGrom. You know he had to be absolutely pumped about that outcome, and it’s something that he will never forget.

Kyle Muller pitched well for the Braves in his first major league appearance as a starting pitcher. He gave up one run, which came on a wild pitch, one hit, two walks and had three strikeouts over four innings. The Braves bullpen was ultimately what blew the game for Atlanta. Braves manager Brian Snitker only let Muller go four innings. I get that it was his first appearance as a starter in his career (it was only his second appearance… ever), but he only had 56 pitches and was doing quite well. In the end, it was one of those questionable bullpen calls made by Snitker that didn’t pay off for the Braves.

The pitcher that Snitker brought on after Kyle Muller, was Shane Greene. Greene re-signed with Atlanta in the middle of this season. He hasn’t preformed very well, but he has had a lot of pressure on him and has tried to over preform. He got the first out, then hit the next batter. He gave up two straight singles to load the bases with Mets. He got the next batter out. So it was bases loaded, two outs. Dominic Smith was up to bat for New York, and he hit a bases clearing double to extend the Mets lead at 4-0.

The only real offense that the Braves had was in the top of the sixth inning. After Ronald Acuña Jr. struck out, Freddie Freeman followed him with what he does best… a walk. My man, Ozzie Albies, got the Braves on the board when he smoked a two-run dinger into the seats in right center field. That made the score 4-2 New York still on top, the final score of the game.

Game Two: Ian Anderson vs. Jerad Eickhoff, Braves won 1-0; game two of doubleheader

This was such a good game- it was even better because the Braves won. It was a close game all the way through with high-stress innings, pitches, and defensive plays.

Ian Anderson pitched great for Atlanta. He went 5.1 innings, allowed three hits, one walk and had five strikeouts. He ran into a little bit of trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning, which is ultimately why Anderson was taken out of the game.

A.J. Minter was brought in following Ian Anderson. He got into a little bit of deeper trouble, but the Mets’ players on base made some bad base running mistakes, and Atlanta’s great defense took full advantage of it to get out of trouble.

The one run that the Atlanta Braves scored was on a solo home run by Ronald Acuña Jr. in the top of the fifth inning. It went a long way, and not only did he watch it, but he got an ear-full of boo’s from the New York fan base. Braves lead 1-0.

Will Smith came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth for the Braves and to try and seal 1-0 Atlanta lead. He worked himself into a mess. He had bases loaded with one out. However, the Mets, once again, had some bad base running and got themselves out. It was almost like they were looking for ways to get out… that’s how bad it was. I’m not complaining however! It was great way for the Braves to preserve their 1-0 lead.

Game Three: Charlie Morton vs. Marcus Stroman, Braves won 3-0

It’s not every day that you shut out your division-leading rivals in back to back games… but the Atlanta Braves did it to the New York Mets!

Charlie Morton pitched very well for the Braves. He went seven innings, allowed one hit, two walks, and he had ELEVEN strikeouts. He threw 107 pitches, none of them were high-stress. He had total control over the Mets lineup, and it paid off great for the Braves in the end.

Atlanta scored all three of their runs with one swing of the bat in the top of the third. After Freddie Freeman flew out, Ozzie got on base with a one out single. Abraham Almonte followed him with a walk. Austin Riley made the second out on a groundout, but he advanced both runners to second and third. That brought Dansby Swanson up with two out, and runners in scoring position. On the first pitch he saw, Swanson hit the baseball out of the park for a three-run homer, giving the Braves a 3-0 lead.

That was all the Braves needed. The bullpen followed Morton with a good, clean outing securing the Braves victory.

Game Four: Kyle Wright vs. Tylor Megill, Braves lost 7-3

Kyle Wright, made his first start of the 2021 season, and it wasn’t pretty. He went two innings, gave up five hits, five runs, and three walks. He did have one strikeout, but it didn’t make much difference in his overall performance. With his early departure, that left a LOT of ground for the Braves bullpen to cover.

Atlanta scored three runs. Two came in the top of the fifth inning when Ender Inciarte hit a two-run homer. The other run they scored came in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Ehire Adrianza that scored Austin Riley.

Pitching was the biggest problem for the Braves in this game. Wright started the game with bad pitching, and that set the tone for the rest of the game.