Mets continue their free fall in embarrassing loss to Braves

The good news is the Mets got to rookie Mike Soroka for three runs in six innings. The bad news is literally everything else about their Monday night game. Zack Wheeler was shaky, the defense was terrible, and the bullpen again was just disastrous, which made any inkling of actually winning the game ridiculous at best.

The first hints of how the game was going to go happened in the first inning. Ronald Acuna led off with a home run against Wheeler and then with one out Freddie Freeman hit a ball to Jeff McNeil that he botched in the outfield. Josh Donaldson singled but when Wheeler induced a ground ball from Nick Markakis, Pete Alonso booted the would-be double play ball and everyone was safe. Wheeler limited the damage but it was an ugly inning for everyone involved.

The Mets did get one back when Pete Alonso singled home Amed Rosario to put the Mets on the board, and then Zack Wheeler took matters into his own hands when he blooped a RBI single to tie the game 2-2.

The tie didn’t even last an inning. A leadoff walk to Dansby Swanson was trouble from the moment it happened. Freeman followed with a single but Wilson Ramos couldn’t corral a Wheeler pitch which sent both runners up a base. There was still hope when Josh Donaldson flew out to shallow center to keep the runners where they were, but Markakis singled to bring home both runners anyway. The inning kept going and the Braves added another run when Amed Rosario missed a ball in the infield.

Up to that point the Mets in the deficit was squarely on the defense’s shoulders. Wheeler didn’t help matters and the final line was ugly. He allowed ten hits, two walks, and five runs in six innings of work. Robinson Cano tried to get the Mets back in it with a solo home run but as bad as Wheeler was, the bullpen was infinitely worse and the game was all but over in the seventh.

Jeurys Familia retired the first batter he faced but departed after not retiring another batter. A hit and two walks brought Drew Gagnon into the game and things spiraled very quickly from there. Three runs would score before he recorded another out, and then with the bases loaded a walk to Freeman brought home the fourth run of the inning. Gagnon stayed in for the eighth and was blitzed by two home runs before mercifully Brooks Pounders ended the inning. That one out was the best pitching performance of the night.

Familia’s final line was three runs, one hit and two walks in a third of an inning. His ERA sits at 7.81 for the year. Drew Gagnon’s ERA rose to 7.65 after allowing four runs on five hits and three walks in a little over an inning of work. On the flip side former friend Jerry Blevins breezed through the heart of the Mets order in the top of the eighth.

From the first inning to the ninth this was another sloppy game where they looked seriously outclassed by the competition. They can perhaps salvage the series if they win the next two games but confidence in this team is quickly eroding as they sink further down the standings.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Amed Rosario +12.8%, Zack Wheeler (batter) +10.6%
Big losers: Zack Wheeler (pitcher) -30.1%, Jeff McNeil -18.7%, Wilson Ramos -11.0%
Total pitcher WPA: -40.5%
Total batter WPA: -9.5%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso RBI single in third
Teh sux0rest play: Nick Markakis RBI single in fifth