It felt like destiny was well on course for much of the afternoon. Another homegrown talent having the game of his life against the Mets, helping the Braves clinch their seventh straight postseason appearance. It’s a story as old as time between these two franchises.
Spencer Schwellenbach was brilliant again, finishing with a very similar scoreline as he did last Tuesday against the Mets, tossing seven innings of one-run ball. He would exit the game with a three-run lead and a runner on second in the eighth, thanks to a couple of homers via Ozzie Albies and Ramon Laureano. All the momentum for going on two hours was steered in the direction of the Braves in their home ballpark, but once Schwellenabach exited, it felt like a door opened for the Mets.
Joe Jimenez relieved Schwellenbach, and despite being one of the best relievers in baseball the entire season, there could end up being questions about Brian Snitker‘s decision not to go right to his closer if the Braves cannot take care of business in Game 2.
Jimenez never looked comfortable. His misses weren’t close, and he left far too many balls over the heart of the plate, leading to three straight Mets hits. Before he could even record an out, Snitker made the call to the bullpen for his closer, but the trouble was just getting started.
With a runner on first and third in a 3-2 ball game, Jose Iglesias stepped up to the plate and delivered a single to right field to cut the lead to one. A sac-fly would give the Mets the lead, but the back-breaker, at least it seemed at the time, was a long home run over the right field wall into the Chop House.
However, the Braves offense would have a response in the bottom half of the inning. A couple of singles forced the Mets to turn to Edwin Diaz early, who made a myriad of mistakes that helped Atlanta. An infield single in which Diaz forgot to cover the bag at first gave the Braves a run and put runners at the corners. That was followed by an unintentional intentional walk to Michael Harris to load the bases, and then Ozzie Albies would deliver again, this time with a bases-clearing double off the base of the left field wall to give Atlanta the lead.
Once again, all the momentum was in the Braves’ favor, but down their two top relievers, it didn’t last for long. Brian Snitker turned to Pierce Johnson for the save, and despite getting the first batter faced to pop up, a single followed by a Francisco Lindor two-run homer put the Mets back on top. This time, the Braves offense wouldn’t have a response, as the Mets clinched and Atlanta is left fighting for their playoff lives in Game 2.
It’s undoubtedly a worst case scenario for Brian Snitker’s club. Not only do they have to use Chris Sale for the second game of the doubleheader, but they also used up all of their top bullpen arms in Joe Jimenez, Pierce Johnson, and Raisel Iglesias. Who knows who will be available this afternoon, but even if the Braves do find a way to win and clinch a postseason berth, their pitching staff will be completely depleted heading to San Diego for Game 1 of a potential Wild Card Series beginning tomorrow.
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Photographer: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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