Mets Game 139: Loss to Braves

Braves 11 Mets 3

The ship keeps sinking, but it’s still above the Fish.

Mets Game Notes

Jeremy Hefner pitched a spectacular round of batting practice in the third inning, much to the delight of the Atlanta Braves starting lineup. Unfortunately, BP is supposed to occur prior to the game — not during — and is usually pitched by a member of the team’s coaching staff. So, all the runs scored counted. Four Braves crossed the plate in that hard-hitting third, as well as another in the previous frame. Five in all — all earned — were allowed by Hefner in 2 2/3 innings. The Braves battered him for 8 hits and walked twice; that’s close to a 5 WHIP.

The relievers following Hefner weren’t much better, though they spread out the scoring over a longer time period. The bullpen gave up 6 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks over the final 6 1/3. But hey, they also struck out 6 Braves — and we like pitchers who can get swings and misses, right?

The Mets scored once after falling behind by five, but the Braves never stopped scoring, while the Mets did. Perhaps the scariest part of the Atlanta onslaught was the fact that the Braves left ten men on base and were 6-for-21 with RISP; in other words, the final score could have been even worse.

Among the positives was seeing Jeurys Familia in the flesh again. Not so positive seeing him allow two runs on four hits in one inning of work, of course. But he did throw hard, zipping that fastball in the mid-90s. However, that was the only pitch he could get in the strike zone, and when he did, it was smack dab in the middle of it. Based on the velocity and location I saw in the top of the ninth, I thought the Mets found a way to sneak Familia back into the game without the Braves or umpires realizing it. As it turned out, it was Elvin Ramirez. Ramirez struck out the side, though he allowed a pinch-hit solo homer by Eric Hinske and a single to Martin Prado in the process.

I’d like to talk about the Mets offense but there isn’t much to discuss. They scored three runs on 8 scattered hits; half of the hits and two of the runs came from David Wright and Lucas Duda. The other run was courtesy of slugger Ronny Cedeno‘s solo homer.

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Braves do it one more time on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. Chris Young pitches against Tommy Hanson.