Mets make final trip to Atlanta this season to face first-place Braves

The New York Mets (28-34) begin a new road trip starting with a brief two-game series with the Atlanta Braves (37-28). The Mets will look to string some wins together after snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Yankees on Sunday night.

If not for the heroics of Todd Frazier and Seth Lugo, the Mets would have had their second winless homestand of 2018. Tough losses to the Yankees on Friday and Saturday nights thanks in part to long balls from Brett Gardner, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, and Miguel Andujar sunk the Mets’ chances at stealing some games from their cross-town rivals with the best record in baseball. The Mets would end up salvaging their otherwise dreadful homestand as Frazier haunted his former team with a go-ahead two-run bomb in the fifth inning, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead for the rest of the night. Lugo continued to make his case to be a permanent fixture in the rotation with six scoreless innings and eight strikeouts.

Two of the more important power bats in the lineup are currently ice cold. Michael Conforto is mired in an 0-for-17 slump, while Jay Bruce is 0-for-13. Adrian Gonzalez, who had a 1-for-19 slump of his own and was hitting as low as seventh in the lineup, was cut from the roster to make room for Dominic Smith, who was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas presumably to get most of the reps at first going forward. It appears as though the Mets front office is trying to send a wake-up call to the offense with the release of Gonzalez. However with Yoenis Cespedes suffering a setback in his rehab stint with Double-A Binghamton and Asdrubal Cabrera dealing with hamstring tightness, options are increasingly thinning out.

It may be hard to believe as it’s only the middle of June, but the Mets will be making their final trip to SunTrust Park this season. Freddie Freeman, currently leading the NL in All-Star voting, has carried the Braves offense this past week, hitting .385 with three home runs. Ozzie Albies continues to mash after slugging his 15^th homer of the season in L.A., leading all MLB second basemen in home runs. The Mets will be missing Julio Teheran this time around, as the Met killer was placed on the 10-day DL with a right thumb contusion.

Probable Pitchers

Tuesday, June 12: Zack Wheeler vs. Mike Foltynewicz, 7:35 p.m. on SNY

Wheeler (2018): 63 IP, 62 K, 22 BB, 7 HR, 4.67 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 1.38 WHIP

Wheeler threw his best start of 2018 last Wednesday, going seven scoreless with five strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed despite no run support in a 1-0 loss to the Orioles. Wheeler will be looking for a repeat performance and some runs from his teammates to earn his first win since April 29.

Foltynewicz (2018): 74 IP, 88 K, 33 BB, 5 HR, 2.31 ERA, 2.98 FIP, 1.19 WHIP

Foltynewicz is having easily the best season of his career, with career bests in ERA, FIP, and WHIP, but is also on pace to allow the most walks in his career with 33 through just 13 starts. Foltynewicz threw a complete game two-hit shutout of the Nationals on June 1, racking up a season-high 11 strikeouts.

Wednesday, June 13: Jacob deGrom vs. Mike Soroka, 12:10 p.m. on SNY

deGrom (2018): 80.1 IP, 106 K, 20 BB, 16 HR, 1.57 ERA, 2.08 FIP, 1.00 WHIP

deGrom was beat by the home run ball Friday night, as Brett Gardner tagged him with a two-run jack that broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning. Despite the homer, deGrom kept the mighty Yankee lineup in check for most of the night in his longest outing of the season.

Soroka (2018): 14.2 IP, 15 K, 4 BB, 1 HR, 3.68 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 1.70 WHIP

Soroka, a first round selection by Atlanta in the 2015 draft, will be coming off the DL to make his fourth major league start after dealing with a right shoulder strain that sidelined the Canadian righty for nearly a month. Soroka faced the Mets in his first career start on May 1 going six innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts.

Prediction: Mets split with the Braves.