Atlanta 4, NY Mets 3
When: 7:10 PM ET, Saturday, September 10, 2016
Where: Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia
Temperature:
87°
Umpires:
Home -
Adam Hamari, 1B -
Tom Hallion, 2B -
Dan Bellino, 3B -
Phil Cuzzi
Attendance:
47841
By The Sports Xchange
ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves put an end to the New York Mets' winning streak at six games and they did it in dramatic fashion on Saturday night.
Adonis Garcia had a single with two outs in the 10th inning to drive in rookie Dansby Swanson and give the Braves a 4-3 walk-off victory.
Swanson, who had a fourth straight multi-hit game, singled leading off the 10th inning against Erik Goeddel (1-1). A.J. Pierzynski, who is expected to retire after the season, followed with a single to put runners on the corners.
"I hadn't played in a while, and I had a hit and a big play," said Pierzysnki, who was mobbed by his teammates as if he, not Garcia, drove in the winning run.
"The guys were happy and we'd just got a win. I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but if this is it, it's been fun."
Employing a five-man infield, the Mets nearly escaped when Ender Inciarte flew out to one of the two remaining outfielders, but Garcia grounded a single through the middle off Josh Smoker with the Mets back in a conventional defense to end it.
"I've never done it before, but I was ready," said Ty Kelly, who moved from the outfield to the infield for a batter. "It almost worked."
The Braves have split 22 extra-inning games - the most by any team in the majors.
Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis homered for the Braves, with Kemp reaching 30 for the season, and Markakis also threw out a runner at the plate.
Yoenis Cespedes hit his 29th homer for the Mets, who lost for just the fifth time in their past 20 games.
Chris Withrow (3-0) got credit for the victory after pitching a perfect top of the 10th inning.
Mets starter Bartolo Colon, who came in with a 5-1 career record and 1.51 ERA at Turner Field, got a no-decision after giving up the homers to Kemp and Markakis.
"I think I missed (location) on both pitches," Colon said through a translator. "In the big leagues, any time you missed your spots you're going to pay the consequences."
The 43-year-old right-hander allowed three runs and four hits over six innings before being pulled after 87 pitches. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter.
Kemp's tying homer in the sixth was his seventh in 37 games with the Braves. It came on a 2-2 pitch from Colon and was a mammoth shot that carried deep into the seats past the fence in left-center field.
"I'm seeing the ball good, putting some good swings on the ball, squaring it up," Kemp said. "It was a back-and-forth game. We beat a good team, a good pitcher."
The Mets threatened to go back ahead in the eighth inning, but Markakis threw out Wilmer Flores, who had a doubled, when he tried to score on pinch-hitter T.J. Rivera's single to right field.
Flores suffered a neck contusion when he hit into catcher Pierzynski and had to leave the game.
"It was a great throw," Pierzynski said. "That's the play you used to get blown up on before they changed the rules. It showed why you shouldn't slide head first. I hope he is OK obviously."
Cespedes broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth with his fourth homer this month. After fouling off a pair of 2-2 pitches with two outs, he picked on a fastball from John Gant and hit a no-doubt smash into the seats in left-center field.
The homer by Cespedes was the only earned run against Gant, who was making his second start after missing nearly eight weeks with an oblique strain. The rookie right-hander allowed three runs, one earned, on four hits and four walks (two intentionally) while throwing 87 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out six.
The Mets scored two tainted runs in the first inning without the benefit of a hit thanks to Braves errors by third baseman Garcia and second baseman Jace Peterson. The only RBI came on a fielder's choice grounder by Jay Bruce.
Atlanta tied it with runs in the first and fourth innings. Kemp's sacrifice fly drove in Inciarte, who had doubled leading off the bottom of the first, and Markakis smacked the first pitch by Colon in the fourth over the fence in right-center field for his 10th home run.
NOTES: RHP Seth Lugo (3-2, 2.38 ERA) will start for the Mets against Braves RHP Williams Perez (2-2, 4.62 ERA) in Sunday's series finale. ... RHP Jacob deGrom (forearm) and LHP Steven Matz (shoulder) threw off the mound for the first time Saturday since being shut down by the Mets, with deGrom doing so in Atlanta and Matz in Port St. Lucie, Fla. DeGrom made just 10 pitches to test his arm, but manager Terry Collins said that he hopes both will be able to return this month. ... RHP Rafael Montero, a rotation fill-in along with Lugo and RHP Robert Gsellman, will start Monday against the Nationals inWashington. ... RHP Matt Wisler, who tweaked his side on Aug. 31, threw a bullpen session on Friday and will do so again on Sunday in anticipation of a potential return to the Braves rotation on Tuesday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
NY Mets |
|
Atlanta |
Bartolo Colon
|
Player |
John Gant
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
6.0 |
IP |
4.2 |
2 |
Strikeouts |
6 |
4 |
Hits |
4 |
4.50 |
ERA |
1.93 |
Hitting
NY Mets |
|
Atlanta |
Kelly Johnson | Player |
Dansby Swanson
|
2 |
Hits |
2 |
0 |
RBI |
0 |
0 |
HR |
0 |
2 |
TB |
2 |
.667 |
Avg |
.500 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
NY Mets
|
7 |
1 |
11 |
.194 |
14 |
7 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
Atlanta
|
8 |
2 |
15 |
.229 |
10 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
2 |