Final Score: Mets 4, Braves 2—The Rookie Home Run King

The Mets edged out the Braves in the first of the final three games of the season at Citi Field. Both Marcus Stroman and Dallas Keuchel were shaky early, but it was Stroman who came away with the win after settling in.

The Braves jumped on Stroman right away, getting out to a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to four singles. Pete Alonso cut the Braves’ lead in half in the bottom of the first with his 52nd home run of the year, which tied Aaron Judge’s record for the most home runs in a season by a rookie in baseball history. The Mets put two more men on base after Alonso’s solo shot, but were unable to score.

The Mets tied up the game in the third with a rally that began with a leadoff walk to Alonso. With one out, Todd Frazier laced a base hit to advance Alonso into scoring position. Amed Rosario followed with an RBI single to tie the game at two runs apiece. The Mets once again missed an opportunity for a bigger inning, as they ultimately loaded the bases, but did not score any more runs.

Meanwhile, Stroman settled in and held the Braves to just the two runs over six innings of work. He struck out eight batters and walked only one. The quality start earned him his tenth win of the season.

The Mets took the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a J.D. Davis two-run homer that drove in Brandon Nimmo, who reached base on a single up the middle. Jeurys Familia worked around an infield hit to pitch a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Stroman. As has been a winning formula for the Mets in so many games this season, Seth Lugo took care of the rest. He pitched two scoreless innings to finish things off, earning his sixth save of the season.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

1. MetsFan4Decades: 131
2. Kepler: 94
3. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 65
4. deegie: 49
5. Knurk: 29
6. MookieTheCat: 26
7. Aussie Mets Fan: 25
8. Russ: 21
9. John Oldnrude: 19
10. AnneInFlushing: 19