After a month of May that was tough to watch at times, the Braves have looked much more like the April version of themselves to begin June, winning back-to-back series versus the Diamondbacks and Mets, with a chance to sweep New York today.
Wednesday night’s game had an eerily similar feeling to Tuesday’s. The Braves fell behind 4-1 for the second night in a row, and once again, the Mets scored all of their runs with two outs featuring two home runs. Charlie Morton didn’t have his best stuff, but luckily, the Braves bats had his back.
Tuesday’s comeback was glorious, but Wednesday felt even better because it felt like the kind of game that might just break the will of the Braves division rival. Already trailing by 6.5 games in the division, the Mets had a three-run lead with their ace in Max Scherzer on the mound… and they lost.
The tide began to turn in the fifth when Sean Murphy hit a laser over the left field wall, his 12th homer of the season. The Braves would then put together a two-out rally for the ages in the sixth that got started with an Orlando Arcia double, bringing up the hero of the night, the slumping Michael Harris II.
Harris’ special night began in the third inning with a bunt hit. For someone struggling as badly as he was, sometimes that’s all it takes. And in the sixth, he came up with the game-tying double, but that would only be the second-most important hit of his night.
Acuña would go on to drive Harris in with a single, giving the Braves the lead and ending Max Scherzer’s night. However, the Mets would tie the game in the seventh off Kirby Yates, who couldn’t hit the strike zone to save his life. He loaded the bases with one out and fell behind 3-0 to Tommy Pham, who would go on to tie the game with a sacrifice fly. However, this wasn’t your typical sac-fly. It took Acuña all the way to the wall in right field, who leaped up to make one of the most important defensive plays of the season. The run scored, but the Braves were able to get out of the inning with the game tied.
It would remain deadlocked until the eighth when Michael Harris II would step up to the plate with two outs and a runner on third. A single was all that was needed to give the Braves the lead, but he wasn’t interested in that, blasting a 443-foot home run to dead center, putting the Braves up 7-5.
AJ Minter would come into save the game in the ninth, and he continued his great work. The Mets went down in order in front of a sellout Truist Park crowd that was rowdy from the opening pitch. It was once again one of the best games of the season in what has quickly become the series of the year for the Braves.
It’s just the type of momentum this team has been looking for over the last month, and they couldn’t have found it at a better time. Now, they have a chance to sweep the Mets and put 8.5 games of distance between them with their ace, Spencer Strider, on the mound for the series finale.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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