QUEENS, N.Y.- If the Atlanta Braves look to win a fifth straight National League East title, they have to get past the New York Mets. This past weekend, the Braves’ chances have slimmed by the hands of who’s ahead of them.
When the Mets and Braves began a five-game series, both teams knew it would arguably be their most important series of the season. In the end, the Mets won four of five games, which extended their division lead to six and a half games.
Leaving the Braves eager for a rematch.
Mad Max and deGrom
When the Mets brought over Max Scherzer via free agency, fans were eager to see him and Jacob deGrom at the top of the Mets’ rotation. Due to a stress reaction in his right scapula, deGrom had to be away from the team, which left fans and the team waiting.
Then came Scherzer, who got sidelined with a left oblique strain from May 18 – July 5. The injury didn’t slow down the Mets, nor did Scherzer himself. In July, he finished with a 1.39 ERA allowing five earned runs. On Saturday against the Braves, he pitched through seven innings allowing four hits and no runs.
Unbelievable.
Speaking of unbelievable, we have to talk about deGrom.
“Just wait till we’re at our best,” Buck Showalter said when the Mets waited for deGrom to be healthy again from April through July.
Well, deGrom is back, and the two-time Cy Young Award winner showcased his best Sunday afternoon. In his second game back, the first game this season at Citi Field, deGrom had a near-perfect game through 5.2 innings, retiring the first 17 Braves batters he faced and striking out 12 of them.
In the sixth inning, his 73rd pitch was missed high for ball four, allowing Ehrie Adrianza to get on first base. Three pitches later, Dansby Swanson’s two-run homer would get their team on the board, and deGrom’s afternoon was over.
“I was very frustrated walking the nine-hole hitter and then leaving a pitch over the middle of the plate and letting Dansby get it,” deGrom said. “[The applause] was very nice, but in that moment I was pretty heated.”
After months of waiting, the Citi Field crowd finally got to see the two pitch on their home field, previewing what Games 1 and 2 of a postseason series would look like in October.
Where the Braves Stand
The Mets took four of five games in the series against the Braves. When the Braves arrived in Queens, they were three and half games behind the Mets. When it was time to leave, the Braves left trailing six and a half games in the division, seeing their chances of winning a sixth straight NL East title slipping away.
“This year, the Mets have no holes,” Travis d’Arnaud told FOX Sports. “They pitch. Their bullpen is strong. They have good infield defense, good outfield defense, good catching defense. they run the bases. They put tough at-bats together. They hit for average, they hit for power. Smart at-bats with runners in scoring position.”
A lot of praise is coming from the former Mets’ catcher on his former ball club.
Spencer Strider, however, thinks otherwise.
“[The Mets] seem to be having a lot of luck right now offensively. That’s great. It’s August. (We’ll) see what things are like in October.”
Strider came out in the third inning of Sunday’s loss after allowing four runs and six hits through 2 2/3 innings.
In the NL East, the Mets have been a powerhouse. Since May 27, they have gone 24-7 in the division. If the Braves want any chance of snatching the first-place lead like they did last year against the Mets, they have to prepare themselves for the next time they face them; next week for a four-game series.
“We’ll run it back and see what happens,” says Strider.
