Offensive performance need not apply

Well.

That was bad.

A night after a heartbreaking loss in which the Mets blew a 8-2 lead to lose 11-10, the bats simply decided to stay in the hotel, netting just one run on six hits, leaving 11 on base, in a lopsided 7-1 defeat in Atlanta.

The game started poorly and deteriorated from there, as newly-minted Mets Killer Marcel Ozuna took Michael Wacha deep in the first inning, a two-run shot that put the Mets down immediately. That would have been enough for the Braves to take home a W, but they would not stop there.

Wacha got tagged for three more runs in the second inning, with Dansby Swanson leading off the frame with a single, and a pair of doubles by Tyler Flowers and Ronald Acuna made it 4-0 Braves before Wacha even knew what hit him. He allowed his fifth run in two innings, when Ozzie Albies drove in Acuna with a single. Wacha would settle after that, and throw a scoreless third and fourth inning, but it was too little too late.

The Mets had more chances than the score let on — which makes the 7-1 loss all the more frustrating. Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil worked back to back one-out walks in the third off of starter Touki Toussaint, but a Pete Alonso double play quickly erased that rally. Michael Conforto, Robinson Cano, and Dominic Smith combined to load the bases with one-out in the fourth inning, but the Mets — you guessed it! — choked away the opportunity. Wilson Ramos continued his rough start to the season with a strikeout, and Amed Rosario grounded out to end yet another rally.

The Mets managed to load the bases with one out again in the fifth inning off of Luke Jackson, but barely did anything with it. Robinson Cano, one of the few current bright spots on the squad due to his .393/.438/.571 line so far this year, drove in the only run the Mets would score. He roped a 94 mile per hour liner to right field, but was unfortunately right at Acuna. Nimmo would scamper home to erase the shutout. Josh Tomlin came in to relieve Jackson and promptly shutdown the rally.

Leaving ten runners on base in the span of three innings took the wind right out of the Mets sails, and their offense was virtually non-existent after that.

Perhaps the best part of the game was Franklyn Kilome debut. Kilome looked alright in four innings of relief in this one, although he did surrender two runs — one on a Ender Inciarte single, and the other on an Acuna homer. Those would be the only two hits he would surrender in his debut, and he struck out five. Frankly, he outpitched Wacha, and it will be interesting to see if he can add any depth at all to a Mets bullpen that needs it like we all need oxygen to live.

This was a 7-1 game that simultaneously felt out of reach, and could have been a close game if they had any semblence of offense with runners in scoring position (they went a whopping 1-10 in that area, which is what you would describe as Not What You Want). The Mets need a win badly, and they will turn to rookie David Peterson tomorrow, in what should be a fun matchup between the rook and Kyle Wright, another young pitcher with promise.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Jeff McNeil, 4.3%
Big Mets loser: Michael Wacha,-27.7%
Mets pitchers: -30.6% WPA
Mets hitters: -19.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Dominic Smith walked to load the bases in the fourth, 4.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Marcel Ozuna two-run home run in the first, -17.8% WPA