Atlanta Braves Lose Slugfest to Mets 10-8

The Atlanta Braves could not hold an 8-3 lead over the rival New York Mets, as Atlanta drops the three game series in the Big Apple with Sunday afternoon’s 10-8 defeat. Neither starting pitcher got through five innings in this slugfest.

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Mike Foltynewicz went 4.1 innings, allowing 6 runs, 5 earned, 9 hits, and 2 home runs today. His offense went to work on Mets starter Dillon Gee, scoring 8 runs in the first three innings.

New York chipped away at the Braves’ lead until it completely evaporated on a three-run bomb by Juan Lagares off Luis Avilan in the bottom of the sixth. The Mets hit four home runs this afternoon, all to unlikely sluggers. Darrell Ceciliani, Dilson Herrera, Travis d’Arnaud, and Juan Lagares all have 3 or fewer home runs on the season.

The pitch selection by C Christian Bethancourt was questionable at best for the Braves staff today. He kept calling breaking balls for Folty when he can hit 98 MPH on the radar gun. The Mets recorded 14 hits today on a lot of offspeed offerings. I didn’t see a lot Braves pitchers shaking Bethancourt off either. I would say this was another bullpen collapse by the Braves, but the starting pitching from Folty wasn’t very good either. Just an ugly day for the Braves pitching staff, though David Aardsma and Dana Eveland pitched well (2 combined innings, 1 hit, no runs).

And it’s a shame, too, because the offense had a great day. You should win games when you score 8 runs. Jace Peterson, Kelly Johnson, and Juan Uribe all had three hits this afternoon. Peterson’s three-run blast in the 2nd off Dillon Gee was spectacular. It was a no-doubter on contact. He might be our second baseman for the future. Does Jose Peraza have to learn to play in the outfield for real now?

Johnson hasn’t skipped a beat since coming back from the DL. He’s hitting .400 (6-15) with two multi-hit games since coming back to the Braves on June 10th. His bat needs to stay in the Braves lineup wherever he ends up playing in the field. He’s the ultimate utility player for Fredi Gonzalez.

Let’s hope that Atlanta can put the pitching woes of today behind them and carry their hot bats into Boston for a two-game set with the Red Sox starting Monday. Atlanta has not played well against their interleague rival in recent years. Wouldn’t it be cool to sweep the Sox in Fenway? Just have to move on from today’s meltdown and get ready to play in Fenway Park.

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