Braves Versus Mets
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for — two of the best teams in baseball battling for NL East supremacy. Following last night’s win over the Marlins in extras, the Mets are back in front of the Braves by one game. They also currently hold the tiebreaker with six games left in the season. That’s important because Major League Baseball will no longer play a Game 163 to break a tie if two teams are even atop the division. It will come down to the head-to-head record, which the Mets currently own 9-7. However, that can change with a sweep this weekend at Truist Park.
Season Recap
We know the Mets own the season series right now, but how did we get here?
The teams first met at the beginning of May at Citi Field for a four-game set. Max Fried led the Braves to a victory over Chris Bassitt, but the Mets would take the next two before Ian Anderson delivered with one of his better performances of the season to salvage a split.
The two teams would not meet again for two months, when the Mets traveled to Atlanta to take on the Braves. It was a perfect opportunity for Atlanta to cut into the division lead before the All-Star break, but instead, the Mets were able to grow it. Max Scherzer pitched a gem in Game 1, beating Max Fried. The Braves would bounce back in Game 2, courtesy of home runs from Matt Olson and Adam Duvall. But the Mets took Game 3 behind a stellar performance on the mound by Chris Bassitt and several home runs off of Charlie Morton.
The Braves and Mets would meet again about a month later, this time for a pivotal five-game series at Citi Field — one the Braves would like to forget. New York dominated on their home turf, winning four out of the five games, and most of them weren’t even competitive. It gave the Mets a stranglehold on the division at the time, but the Braves were able to exact revenge when the Mets returned to Truist Park just a week later.
The last time these teams met, the Braves left on top of the world. Game 1 was a fireworks show from the Braves offense, winning 13-1. They followed it up with a 5-0 win the very next night behind a stellar performance from Charlie Morton. The only win of the series for the Mets came in thrilling fashion. After bursting out to a 6-1 lead, the Braves came storming back behind a Robbie Grossman three-run homer in the seventh inning, which cut the lead to just one. Unfortunately, the Mets were able to extend the lead again in the ninth behind a Pete Alonso home run, and the Braves didn’t have quite enough firepower to complete the comeback. However, Atlanta was able to win the series the following night in what was a classic pitcher’s duel between Jacob deGrom and Max Fried. A seventh-inning double off the bat of Michael Harris II was the difference, as the Braves would walk away victors by a score of 3-2.
Since then, both teams have gone back and forth atop the standings in the NL East. The Mets hold a significant advantage with a one-game lead and the tiebreaker, but home field has been nice for the Braves all season. They own a 52-26 record at Truist Park, and it is sure to be a playoff-like atmosphere all weekend at The Battery.
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