Statement In Atlanta
date
Apr 8, 2024
Files & media
slug
statement-in-atlanta
status
Published
tags
Baseball
Mets
summary
On a warm spring night in Truist Park, the Braves hosted their first matchup of the 2024 campaign against the New York Mets, nonetheless on a special occasion as the organization, along with the entire baseball world celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hank Aaron’s historic 715th home run…
type
Post
On a warm spring night in Truist Park, the Braves hosted their first matchup of the 2024 campaign against the New York Mets, nonetheless on a special occasion as the organization, along with the entire baseball world celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hank Aaron’s historic 715th home run.
As a diehard Mets fan, I typically tune into the SNY broadcast to listen to the magical play by play work of Gary Cohen and the jovial banter of the two former Met legends Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling, however tonight, I was curious to see if the Braves broadcast was hosting a ceremony on the field for Hammerin’ Hank before the game so I reluctantly tuned in.
I do despise the Braves broadcast crew as I feel they’re incredibly biased and consistently highlight negative statistics of their opponents, especially when facing the Mets.
Despite this fact, I wanted to experience this full game through the lens of a Braves fan to possibly flush out any false narratives I had built about the experience in the past, but it was generally what I expected; Brandon Gaudin stat dumping on how the Mets have struggled so immensely on offense, which I had to admit, they have.
Listen stats aren’t wrong, they’re an honest reflection of how a team or an individual is performing and typically, I can’t refute. I’m likely deflecting my miserable fandom of the Mets onto you Mr. Gaudin, maybe it’s the reason you get under my skin. No hard feelings.
I stuck with the broadcast in Atlanta the whole game, enduring what was a brutal first few innings. Julio Teheran, a former Brave, was taking the mound just three days after signing with the team, filling a temporary role for an injury riddled rotation and it was rough. He managed only 2.2 innings allowing six hits and four earned.
Ozzie Albies, who’s driven in more runners against only the Marlins(67) in his career than the Mets(63), continued the trend with a two run double in the third to open the scoring followed by two more runs in the same inning from a Marcel Ozuna homer. 4-0 Atlanta early on.
Reed Garrett came in from the bullpen to record the final out in a third inning jam. He would go on to pitch another two merely flawless innings striking out five batters along the way.
Starling Marte would poke in a hard fought run in the fourth after a Pete Alonso walk and an infield single from Brett Baty, that’s all they would get across though. 4-1
It was when Brandon Nimmo launched a three run moonshot into the “chophouse”, as they like to say in Atlanta, that the energy ostensibly shifted in the ballpark.
Atlanta was fully expecting to run away with this game after jumping out to an early lead and moreover facing a Mets lineup that hasn’t produced much of late, but Brandon Nimmo, who’s been in this clubhouse longer than anyone, was compelled to drag the Mets back into the game. My guess is all those years of getting beaten and battered by Atlanta seemingly boiled over into a brilliant night for the 2011 first round pick.
His homerun in the fifth wouldn’t be his last as he’d follow it up with another game tying blast, lefty on lefty against AJ Minter in the seventh to straight away center field, 420 ft. The score 5-5 begining the eighth.
If there is one lone sentiment to keep in mind from this game, it’s that the Mets entire batting order came to the plate in the top half of the eighth inning. The old Mets I know with a tight score or a lead late in the game had a tendency to coast on offense and allow opponents to get back into the game, that wasn’t the case here. Each guy came into their at bat with a purpose and forced the Braves bullpen to work tirelessly for outs.
It’s so important to apply as much pressure on a team to make a mistake late in games and it’s a detail that is too often missed. Working at bats in late game situations not only wears down an opponents bullpen for the remainder of a series but stalls a Braves batting order that was waiting to pounce on a come from behind win, something they have shown they are quite adept at.
The inning produced three total runs. D.J Stewart with his first hit of the season, sent a ball into orbit with Brett Baty on second base 7-5.
Later in the inning, in his fifth at bat, it was who else but Nimmo coming through in a big moment once more, lacing a single that drove in a run. The Mets lead was extended to three which came to be a crucial number late in the game.
Now I want to note, the only piece of information the Braves broadcast made note of that I paid attention to was Carlos Mendoza, in a pregame interview, had stated Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino and Edwin Diaz would not be available to throw in the game. It was a peculiar thing for a manager to say pregame, why give that information away? It seemed to me it was something the broadcast crew in Atlanta may have taken exception to being those are the Mets top three arms out of the bullpen. It’s just not something managers usually make light of to the media and it came off a tad odd from the first year manager Mendoza.
In the bottom half, Drew Smith entered the game following a lead off walk surrendered by Jake Diekman. He tossed a jarring thirty one pitches which is certainly a high number for a late inning reliever like Smith, but he battled through some high level at bats from the heart of the Braves lineup and escaped the inning allowing a lone run on a bases loaded walk. 8-6
Carlos Mendoza stuck to his word as Jorge Lopez was the only arm active in the bullpen and lined up to close the game in the ninth inning for the Metropolitans.
Lopez served up some hard hit balls that went in the Mets favor, including a spectacular catch up against the left field wall from Tyrone Taylor that saved probable runs and a long inning out of Atlanta. Lopez capitalized by conjuring up some late game dauntless pitching that left the final at 8-7 at the conclusion of the game.
Clearly the MVP of the contest, without a shred of doubt, is Brandon Nimmo but the effort from the entire squad who is missing some key pieces right now proved gallant and united squaring off with a formidable divisional opponent. As a fan of the Mets there haven’t been many proud moments to hold onto but this undeniably has the makings of one. Top to bottom it was a team effort and most definitely something to build off going forward.
Albeit, if the Mets lose the remaining three games of this series which is absolutely possible, let’s be honest, I’d still have a good feeling in my stomach witnessing this performance from the team. If they can squeak out just one more win in this series it would be a win in my book this early in the season and a show of character. 4-6 is the record despite the 0-5 start and a tumultuous season ahead. Adrian Houser on the bump for a 7:20pm start tonight and a chance to steal the series momentum, make it happen.