Mets blanked by Braves in rain-shortened affair

For a while, the weather forecast seemed to suggest that there would be no baseball in Queens tonight. But with things looking considerably wetter tomorrow and Sunday, MLB and both clubs did their best to get tonight’s game in, so as to avoid any further scheduling headaches with two almost-certain rainouts in their future.

As such, things did get underway, and the Mets fell to the Braves 4-0 in five innings. Considering the lopsided pitching matchup—New York turned to David Peterson, while Atlanta had NL Cy Young runner-up Max Fried on the mound—the result is hardly surprising. Still, things were close for a while. The game was actually scoreless for the first four innings, as Peterson and Fried matched zeroes as the rain got heavier and heavier.

In fact, through four innings, Atlanta had managed just one hit, while the Mets mustered two—a Bretty Baty single in the third and a Pete Alonso infield hit in the fourth. After a surprisingly solid first four innings, Peterson imploded in the fifth, just in time for the game to become an official loss for New York.

Things began innocently enough, as Vaughn Grissom grounded out to begin the fifth. Eddie Rosario followed with a sharp single to center field, and ex-Met Kevin Pillar doubled down the left field line in a play that Buck Showalter argued was foul. The Mets got Michael Harris II to ground out to Baty, who cut off the lead runner Rosario at home for the second out. It looked like the Mets may escape the inning unscathed, but Ronald Acuña Jr. singled home the game-deciding run. Matt Olson followed with a 433-ft home run to the Shea Bridge to break it open for Atlanta.

Aside from a Francisco Álvarez two-out single in the bottom of the fifth, the Mets went down quietly against Fried. The tarp then came out and, given the forecast, it seemed pretty clear this game would not pick back up again. The game was (mercifully) called around 10:00pm after almost 90 minutes of waiting.

Weather-permitting, these two clubs will square off again at 4:05pm tomorrow on FOX. Tylor Megill will face Spencer Strider.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Brett Baty, 3.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: David Peterson, -20.3% WPA
Mets pitchers: -20.3% WPA
Mets hitters: -23.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Brett Baty third-inning single (I guess?), 4.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Matt Olson three-run home run in the fifth, -24.7% WPA