Stew York Mets clobber Braves

The Mets have been on something of a tear lately. Over the last eight games the Mets have six wins, with two series wins. The ragtag group of replacement players are a living embodiment of all the great underdog movies. But this game was a different challenge, having to face the Braves’ Goliath to their David. The Mets were sending the inconsistent David Peterson out to face the Braves buzzsaw offense, but the Braves had the inexperienced Allan Winans to face the hot lineup the Mets have been surprising with.

Despite some hard hit, long fly outs, the first inning was quiet for both teams. In the second inning, however, the Mets turned up the heat. DJ Stewart, who has become bafflingly good these last few weeks, got the Mets on the board with a solo home run. Two batters later, Rafael Ortega added on with a two-run home run to put the Mets up three. In the bottom of the inning, Marcell Ozuna hit a home run of his own, trimming the Mets lead down to two runs.

The next inning for the Braves proved even more prosperous. After a couple of singles, Michael Harris II plated two runs with a double to tie the game at three apiece. Then the next inning, Marcell Ozuna took Peterson deep yet again to move the Braves in front for the first time in the game. But the Mets refused to go down without a fight. With two runners on Jeff McNeil hit an RBI single to tie the game. Pete Alonso matched that with an RBI single of his own to put the Mets up one. And then Daniel Vogelbach hit–you guessed it–an RBI single to give the Mets some breathing room. In the final great moment of the inning, Stewart surprised everyone (including this intrepid reporter) by pulling a suicide squeeze with Alonso on third–and the most shocking part is, it actually worked. Middle of the fifth, the Mets were up by three.

In the sixth the Mets stayed hot, with Francisco Lindor hitting a three run home run to give the Mets a wide berth of six runs. The rest of the game was pretty quiet, with the Mets and Braves alternating between scoreless innings, with a baserunner or two here and there. But the six run lead stayed intact for the Mets to the end, and the Mets beat the Braves to start off the series in Atlanta.

The Mets have now won seven of their last nine games, and more importantly have somehow managed to beat the Braves. While the Mets are a long way away from being in serious contention for a wild card spot, in terms of having a good time this game really delivered. Wherever the season leads from here, the least you can ask for is some fun.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: DJ Stewart, +15.7 WPA
Big Mets loser: David Peterson, -20.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: -13.5% WPA
Mets hitters: +63.5 % WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Rafael Ortega’s second inning two-run home run, +15.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Michael Harris II’s two-run double in the third inning, -19.9% WPA