Juan Soto homers, but wastes late opportunity as Mets fall to Braves in series opener

The Mets were defeated by the Atlanta Braves, 3-2, in the series opener on Monday night at Citi Field.

Here are some takeaways…

– As was the case in their meeting last week, the Braves were able to jump on Paul Blackburn, putting baserunners on in each inning against him. The righty was helped by a heads-up play from Jeff McNeil to escape without damage in the first, but a sacrifice fly brought home the first run of the game in the second.

Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the third with a solo shot to center, then a double and two walks loaded the bases with nobody out. Blackburn did a nice job of bearing down from there and was able to escape with just one more tally on the board via a sacrifice fly.

He finally put together a clean inning his next time out, but was pulled in the fifth after allowing an Austin Riley triple and a two-out walk. José Buttó entered and retired the first batter he faced to close Blackburn's line at three runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts over 4.2 innings.

It marked the fifth straight game the Mets received five innings or fewer from their starter.

– After they struck for four runs and two homers against him last week in Atlanta, the Mets weren't able to get much of anything going against Spencer Schwellenbach. They managed just two singles over the first five innings, but finally broke through in the sixth.

Juan Soto made the young right-hander pay for a two-out walk to Brandon Nimmo, demolishing an opposite-field, two-run homer to make it a one-run ballgame. It was Soto's 17th long ball of the season and the third of his career against Schwellenbach.

The star outfielder would step to the plate in a golden opportunity a few innings later — Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo lined back-to-back two-out singles to push the tying run to third — but Soto struck out on a nasty 3-2 slider out of the zone from left-hander Dylan Lee.

– Lee set down Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, and Tyrone Taylor to close this one out in the ninth.

– While it was for naught, the Mets' bullpen did a good job of keeping them in the game. Ryne Stanek let out a big roar after pitching his way out of a jam in the seventh, Reed Garrett struck out a pair in the eighth, and then Edwin Diaz worked around two hits in the ninth.

– Brett Baty has gotten off to a bit of a slow start since returning from the IL, but he put together a much-needed strong showing at the plate, picking up two of the four knocks against Schwellenbach.

– The Mets have now lost nine of their last 10 games and four straight against the Braves.

Game MVP: Dylan Lee

The southpaw set down the scorching Soto in the biggest spot of the game.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets and Braves continue their four-game set on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.

Frankie Montas makes his Mets debut against Spencer Strider (2-5, 3.89 ERA) on SNY.

Read the full article here