In front of a sold-out crowd at Truist Park, the Braves fell short against the Mets, 4-1 Monday night. Atlanta, which is 52-36, is 2 1/2 games behind New York.
Here are five observations:
1. On one end, you had Max Scherzer, who is one of the game’s best pitchers. On the other, you had a powerful Braves offense, which might be the best in baseball.
Something had to give.
This time, Scherzer won the battle, stymying the Braves with seven innings of one-run baseball. The lone run against him came in the seventh, when Austin Riley pulverized a solo home run with two outs for his 24th homer.
“You got to be on the attack with him, because he’s going to be, that’s for sure,” manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s really good. For his second start (off the injured list), that was really, really good, I thought.”
Scherzer, who allowed three hits and didn’t walk anyone, struck out nine Braves. After Riley homered, Marcell Ozuna doubled and represented the tying run. But Scherzer recorded the final out and kept his team ahead in the game.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
2. You could point to Max Fried not looking sharp. You could look at the walks he issued, the doubles he allowed or anything else that may indicate Fried not looking like himself.
That is all fair.
But this might be more important: Despite all of that, Fried kept the Braves in the game.
He tied a career high with five walks – something he had only done on June 25, 2019 – and allowed five hits. Three of them were doubles. He hit a batter. He only allowed two runs over five innings, though.
Fried couldn’t point to a reason why he had to battle so much.
“Just one of those nights,” he said. “Just wasn’t commanding the baseball. They had really good approaches, really weren’t chasing very much. I had to be in the zone. Tonight was one of those nights where I had to go out there and have a good game, have my A game, and it just didn’t happen.”
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
3. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Braves put men on second and third with two outs. All-Star shortstop Dansby Swanson stepped up to the plate to face reliever Adam Ottavino, with the home crowd ready to erupt.
Swanson swung at the first pitch and grounded out to the shortstop.
The Braves had chances to score in the seventh and eighth. They were a hit away.
“We’ve seen it numerous times before,” Fried said. “It’s just one swing away. Felt like we put some good at-bats together and hit some balls hard, it just went at guys. But that’s baseball.”
Winning is most important, but the Braves’ offense was hardly quiet. The seven hardest-hit balls of Monday’s game, and nine of the top 11, belonged to Atlanta.
The Braves were a hit away from tying the game, but the little things are magnified against good teams.
“We had the deck stacked in our favor, couldn’t get a big hit,” Snitker said. “They’re all going to be tough games against a team like this.”
4. Right after Riley pulled the Braves within a run, Darren O’Day allowed a leadoff homer to Luis Guillorme to start the eighth inning.
In the ninth, Jackson Stephens walked the leadoff man then gave up a single. The Mets scored on a grounder.
New York added the necessary insurance runs, which set up closer Edwin Diaz to strike out the side in the bottom of the ninth.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
5. The Braves’ first hit off Scherzer belonged to – you guessed it – Robinson Canó.
Canó's single past the sliding second baseman remained Atlanta’s only hit until Riley’s seventh-inning homer. Then he hit another single in the eighth inning.
And in his Braves debut, Canó also played great defense. He was responsible for a double play in which he fielded a ball that almost got away from him, stepped on second base and got a runner heading to third in a rundown for the final out of the frame.
“Some really nice defensive plays and had some really great at-bats,” Fried said. “Felt like he brought a little spark to the team. He really contributed tonight.”
Stat to know
5 - The Braves had five outs on balls they hit 102 mph or harder.
Quotable
“It was a battle. For me, five walks, especially leading off multiple innings with walks, kind of unacceptable. … Felt like I kind of just had some innings that dragged on, wasn’t pounding the zone as well as I wanted and the defense was able to kind of bail me out with a couple nice plays.” - Fried on his night
Up next
Rookie sensation Spencer Strider will pitch for the Braves in the second game of the series, and left-hander David Peterson will start for New York. First pitch is at 7:20 p.m.
