The Braves got exactly the kind of bounce-back night they needed, and Martín Pérez set the tone from the start. After a rough Game 1 against the Mets, Atlanta handed the ball to Pérez in the same matchup he had seen in July, and this time he handled it with ease while Nolan McLean kept the game tight on the other side.
Pérez never let the Mets string much together. Francisco Lindor singled in the first, but Bo Bichette grounded into a double play to end the inning.
From there, Pérez kept working around the traffic. In the second, Luis Robert led off with a pop up, Benge reached on a single after review, and Pérez recovered by striking out off-season acquisition Polanco.
He ran into Lindor again in the third and walked him, but that was the extent of the damage.
The Mets kept putting a little pressure on, but Pérez kept answering. Benge picked up another single in the fourth, yet Pérez shut the door from there, including a strikeout of Alvarez after issuing him a walk earlier in the game.
He was even sharper in the fifth, retiring the side in order, and he nearly ran out the clock on the Mets’ offense in the sixth too. After a Lindor groundout, a walk and a single put runners on the corners, but Pérez forced Benge into a double play to wipe the threat away.
By the time his night ended, Pérez had delivered 6.0 innings of four-hit ball, all of the hits singles, and his season ERA dropped to 2.96. Didier Fuentes took over in the seventh and set the Mets down in order, including a strikeout.
Atlanta’s bats were quiet for a while, but the damage came in the right spots. The breakthrough arrived in the fifth when Ozzie Albies crushed a no-doubt solo shot to the chop house on the second pitch he saw, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead.
That lone swing held until the seventh, when the Braves finally put together a more complete inning against the bullpen. Matt Olson walked, moved up on a wild pitch, and Harris advanced him to third on a groundout.
Albies drew another walk, then Dubón delivered the clutch contact with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Lane Thomas entered as a pinch hitter and walked, both runners moved up on another wild pitch, and then Robert made a spectacular leaping catch at the wall to rob Riley of a two-run double.
The Braves weren’t done. Dylan Lee worked a clean eighth, striking out one and lowering his ERA to 1.99, and Atlanta broke it open from there.
Jarvis was retired, Baldwin walked, and Acuña hit a ball hard enough to force another strong play from Robert. Then Olson kept rolling and launched a two-run blast that traveled 423 feet, pushing the lead to 4-0.
Harris singled in the inning and Albies followed with his signature pop up to close it out. Iglesias came on in the ninth and handled a four-run cushion without trouble, an encouraging sign after some uneven moments in those spots earlier this season.
In the end, the formula was simple: Pérez limited the Mets, and the Braves cashed in once the bullpen took over. Atlanta will try to do it again tomorrow.
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Lpez remains a name to watch because the Braves still have to decide whether his next value comes from starting games or helping out of the bullpen, and that choice could ripple through the rest of the staff. AJ Smith-Shawver has also reinserted himself into the conversation after a strong rehab outing with Gwinnett, while Spencer Schwellenbach is another piece the Braves are evaluating as they try to sort out who fits where when the games matter most. [Read more 🡒]