The New York Mets could do more damage to the Atlanta Braves’ fleeting playoff hopes when the National League East rivals meet on Tuesday for the first time this season to start a three-game set in Atlanta.
New York boasts the best record in the National League and seeks its first division title since 2015. But the Mets were swept by Tampa Bay in a three-game series over the weekend before embarking on a six-game trip that takes them to Atlanta and Philadelphia.
“You hate to get swept here at home, but you’ve got to move on,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. “It’s 162 games. You’re going to go through stretches where this is going to happen. Obviously, we’ve got to play better. We’ve got to turn the page and start — be ready to go Tuesday.”
The Braves are 13 games behind the Mets in the East and eight games behind the San Diego Padres in the wild-card race, which puts their streak of seven straight playoff appearances in jeopardy. The Braves went 2-1 in a weekend series against Colorado, but scored only one run in Sunday’s loss to a Rockies staff with the highest ERA in the major leagues.
“We’ve talked about this, sustaining a drive with the offense. We’re just having a hard time doing that,” said Atlanta manager Brian Snitker. “We’ve had a couple games up until today, four out of five were really good. We’re starting to click here and get this thing rolling, and we just can’t get off the mat and put anything together for an extended period of time, and we haven’t all year.”
The Braves went 7-6 against the Mets last year and have won the season series seven straight years. New York’s last series win came in 2017.
The starting pitchers for the series opener will be New York’s David Peterson (5-2, 2.49 ERA) against Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach (5-4, 3.11). Both are coming off complete-game victories.
Peterson has won three in a row and threw his first career shutout against Washington on Wednesday, when he scattered six hits and struck out six. He has allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of his 13 starts and has not given up more than three earned runs in any outing.
Peterson is 3-5 with a 5.33 ERA in 11 career outings (10 starts) against the Braves. He lost his only start against Atlanta last season as Matt Olson crashed a 3-run homer to spark a 9-2 verdict.
Schwellenbach delivered his first career complete game Wednesday against Milwaukee, allowing two runs on five hits and nine strikeouts.
Schwellenbach is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA against the Mets in three career outings. He pitched seven innings in each of those starts, once allowing no runs and twice allowing just one.
New York first baseman Pete Alonso, an Atlanta nemesis, had his 22-game on-base streak end on Sunday when he was 0-for-4. Over the past 23 games, Alonso is batting .289 (26-for-90) with 14 runs, six doubles, eight homers and 26 RBI.
New York third baseman Brett Baty is day-to-day after leaving Sunday’s game in the seventh inning with right groin tightness.
The Braves activated outfielder Stuart Fairchild, who had been on the injured list since dislocating his pinky finger on May 29, and sent Jose Azocar to Triple-A Gwinnett.
–Field Level Media
