Let’s put a big asterisk on this one right away: There’s no such thing as revenge when one team is a cool 23 games ahead in the standings. The Braves losing a game to the Mets is like getting a mosquito bite on your way to the car after a bug-free picnic: You’ll scowl and maybe scratch at the welt a time or two, but that’s about the extent of it.
But away with your unasked-for asterisks and your downer similes and all the rest of this depressing nonsense, recapper! Do your job! Remind the people that the Mets beat the Braves, at White Flight Stadium no less, and it was awesome.
Indeed it was. The game kicked off with a flurry of can-you-top-this defense: Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor started the Mets’ offense with what looked like back-to-back doubles, except Kevin Pillar and Michael Harris II reeled both drives in. (Jeff McNeil then followed with a little excuse-me hit, as a reminder that baseball is inherently ridiculous.) The Mets then did the same thing to the Braves in the bottom of the frame: Ronald Acuna Jr. played the McNeil role with a soft hit against the defense, but Nimmo robbed Harris with a diving catch in center. A double play later, the Braves were somehow not off to a fast start for once and left the field muttering.
The ReplaceMets then stepped up against former Met farmhand Allan Winans, who found starting against his old club not quite as easy as it was back in Queens. DJ Stewart mashed a solo homer and Rafael Ortega followed that with a two-run shot, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead. They’d coughed that up by the fourth, not so much because David Peterson was bad as because the Braves are a squad made up of beasts, the most impressive offensive contingent in the game. Still, it was only 4-3 Braves, which felt like something of a moral victory given how things have gone this year.
But for once the Mets were after an actual victory. A walk and four straight singles off Winans was followed by a Stewart safety squeeze (a little too cute, but we’ll allow it) and the Mets had gone up 7-4; an inning later, a three-run shot from Francisco Lindor sealed the deal, with the Braves playing the rest of the game with something of a collective shrug.
One game. A mosquito bite. But it was fun to see the Mets take an actual lead against their tormentors and then dust themselves off and do it again and then run off and hide. OK, maybe it wasn’t magically worth 23 games in the standings. But there are all manner of enchantments, and this one provided a welcome sprinkling of pixie dust over a sticky summer night.
I would love to be wrong, too, Jason.
I sang the blues regarding giving up on the season, but nothing would better celebrate our 1973 team on its 50th Anniversary than to sneak in as the 3rd WC after being counted out.
Ya Gotta Believe!
And Ya Gotta Believe More in 2024!
Too little, too late. But at least we only have 2 more games being forced to listen to SNY slobbering over how good the Braves are.
tomahawk : chopped
was nice to see the mets play a sharp, well executed game. like the kind we needed last september.
real and moral victories are to be savored one at a time, esp v the braves.
good to see once-shocked remaining mets and recent call-ups actually look like a functioning ballclub. so little of that before the dismantling of the most expensive team money could buy.
Nice for once to not have an ex-Met, minor leaguer in Winans’s case, have yet another revenge game against the Mets. One’s enough for the likes of him.
The journeymen delivered. We can’t say the traded or baby Mets would have done better.
Still being alive in the wildcard race means being chagrined that Tommy Pham had a game-winning hit for the Diamondbacks, one of the teams that the Mets need to chase down. At least the D-backs aren’t holding a wildcard yet, which meant their comeback win didn’t change the Mets’ games back of the 3rd wildcard.
With tomahawk on this one. Just a good game. Reminded me of what we did a lot last year, at least until September 1.
Peterson was a lot better. Would have liked to see him get a shot at the win but it’s not like he’d done a lot to earn a long leash, particularly vs Ozuna.
Giving up a lead then coming back to win. Nice to see even though it doesn’t mean that much in the big picture.
Sorry – with mikeL. Looked at our schedule. 2 games vs Washington. Believe every other one is against a team with a winning record.
On the plus side, if we did somehow transform into a winning team we have a lot of games against teams fighting for the WC. Better bet is we play the way we have all season vs good teams but you never know. WC fantasies are foolish but I still have ’em sometimes.
no worries, you had me at agreement, and tomahawk would be a good nickname if not for the braves and their chop.
agree it’s early (and foolish) to hope for a WC berth but i’ll welcome a longshot run down the stretch if current roll snowballs, contenders fold.
actually looking forward to another game in atl tonite.