Mets vs. Braves recap: Reyes and Rivera, run machines

Last night, the Mets bounced back from their ugly loss to beat the Braves by a score of 16-5. This represented the Mets’ biggest offensive game of the season, and they did so in a very un-Mets way: they didn’t hit a single home run, instead capitalizing on hitting with runners in scoring position.

Jacob deGrom started for the Mets and didn’t have his best stuff by any means. Over five innings of work, he walked five, gave up five run on eight hits, and struck out five. He had a better night at the plate than on the mound, notching a pair of hits and two runs batted in.

But deGrom looked better than former Met/always bae Bartolo Colon. Colon didn’t strike out a single batter, walked two, gave up seven hits and five earned runs over four innings.

The difference in the game came down to the bullpens. The Mets’ pen only allowed one base runner and saw bounce-back performances from Josh Smoker and Fernando Salas. Josh Edgin continued his surprisingly successful season with a perfect sixth inning, and Addison Reed was quite good in the seventh, even if it appeared that he and Terry Collins had words about him being used so early in the game. Collins denied this, but the SNY cameras caught what clearly appeared to be a somewhat uncomfortable conversation in the dugout in the top of the eighth inning.

The Braves’ bullpen, however, dug their team a hole that it would have been quite difficult to get out of. Josh Collmenter gave up five earned runs in the fifth, former Met Eric O’Flaherty gave up four earned runs in two thirds of an inning, and Matt Wisler got stuck with mop up duty, giving up three runs after relieving O’Flaherty.

The Mets had the ice-cold portion of their lineup to thank for many of their early runs, with Asdrubal Cabrera, Neil Walker, Curtis Granderson, Jose Reyes, and Rene Rivera all driving in early runs. Reyes would match a career high with five runs batted in, and every player to come to the plate—aside from the returning Wilmer Flores and the “oh, he’s still on the roster?” Matt Reynods—reached base, with all the starters doing so at least twice. Reyes and Rivera combined for eight RBIs and three runs scored, somehow.

Michael Conforto and Jay Bruce continued their excellent offensive starts to the season, getting on base three times apiece, with Conforto smoking a double in the marathon eighth inning.

All told, the Mets had 20 hits, and looked very much like a team with a deep lineup, and not one that was missing its starting left fielder, first baseman, and catcher.

The Mets look to take the series from the Braves tonight, with Zack Wheeler squaring off against Jaime Garcia at 7:35pm.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Neil Walker, +14.4% WPA, Asdrubal Cabrera, +13.3% WPA
Big losers: Jacob deGrom, -5.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Neil Walker doubles in the first, +20.7 WPA
Teh sux0rest play: The weird double play in the first involving Reyes and Walker, -10.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +1.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: +48.4% WPA
GWRBI!: Jose Reyes