The Mets got exactly what they didn’t want in the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader: a one-run game, almost no offense, and a loss that came down to one mistake they couldn’t erase. Atlanta beat New York 1-0 in the second game, holding the Mets to just two hits while Chris Sale and the Braves’ bullpen shut the door.
Christian Scott gave the Mets a chance. He worked deeper than he had all season, lasting six innings for the first time this year, and he looked sharp early by attacking the strike zone and keeping the ball moving. The only damage against him came in the sixth, when the Braves finally strung together enough contact to break through.
Scott’s night started with a jolt when Drake Baldwin lined the first pitch of the game into left for a single, but he settled in quickly and retired the next three hitters. For much of the game, he matched Sale pitch for pitch.
Sale struck out the first three batters he faced and kept New York off balance until the third, when Carson Benge lined a single to left. That little spark fizzled fast after accidental interference was called on Luis Torrens when Benge tried to steal second, and Francisco Lindor then grounded into a force out to end the inning.
The game stayed tight until the fifth, when Scott began to labor. Ozzie Albies singled to center, Mauricio Dubón forced him out and reached first, and even though Scott struck out the next two hitters, it took him 26 pitches to get through the inning’s four batters. Sale was far more efficient in the bottom half, working through a ten-pitch battle with Taylor before the Mets went down in order again.
The sixth was the turning point. Jim Jarvis opened with a double down the right-field line, Baldwin followed with a broken-bat grounder that Lindor couldn’t turn into an out, and Matt Olson then punched an RBI single under Lindor’s glove into center to bring Jarvis home.
Albies walked to load the bases, but Dubón flew out and Scott escaped with just the one run allowed. By then, the Braves had the only lead they would need.
New York’s offense never found a rhythm. Eric Wagaman lined a single into center in the sixth for the Mets’ second and final hit of the night, and that was about as close as they came to building anything. Sale’s work was followed by Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee, and finally Raisel Iglesias, who closed it out by retiring the top of the Mets order in the ninth.
The bullpen did its part to keep the game within reach. A.J.
Minter took over in the seventh, hit Austin Riley with a pitch, and then watched Riley steal second when the Mets couldn’t cleanly make the tag, but Minter struck out the next two batters to end the inning. Cionel Pérez breezed through the eighth with help from a diving catch by Benge, and Daniel Duarte worked around two singles in the ninth by striking out Riley and getting Jarvis to fly out.
In the end, though, the Mets were stuck with the same problem all night: too little contact, too few chances, and no answer for Atlanta’s pitching.
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