Spot start turns sour for Loe, Braves in loss to Mets

It had been six years since Kameron Loe started a major league game, and it’s fair to say it could be a long while before he starts another.

Making a spot start for the Braves on Wednesday afternoon, Loe gave up 11 hits and five runs in 4 1/3 innings of a 5-2 loss to the Mets. A good homestand ended with a thud, and the Braves’ magic number to clinch the National League East remained at 10, pending the outcome of the Nationals’ night game at Philadelphia.

“It’s a disappointment,” said Loe, 31, brought from Triple-A Gwinnett to make a start so the Braves could give extra rest to rookie Julio Teheran. “I battled out there and gave it everything I had, but fell short today. I’ve been pitching much better lately than I did today, so I know I’m better than that.”

The Braves have won 20 of 25 home games, including seven of nine on the homestand, but it didn’t feel like it after Wednesday’s loss, in which they fell behind 5-0 in the first three innings and a backup-laden lineup mustered four hits in seven innings against Dillon Gee (11-9).

Freddie Freeman’s eighth-inning homer — his 19th, giving him 94 RBIs — was one of the few bright spots for the Braves, who won two of three apiece against the Mets and Marlins, after opening the homestand with a sweep against Cleveland.

The Braves (85-54) still have the best record in the majors, but were only 1 1/2 games of the hard-charging Dodgers for the NL’s best record before the Dodgers’ Wednesday night game against the Rockies.

The team with the league’s best record is guaranteed home-field advantage through the NL playoffs, particularly important for the Braves, whose 51-20 home record easily is the best in the majors.

“Every game you play, you’re not playing it like, ‘We won two, so we can give them this one,’” said Elliot Johnson, who started at third base and had two of the Braves’ hits. “We want to win it. The Dodgers are playing well. We want the 1-seed. We don’t want to give up anything. If they’re going to keep on playing well, we need to play just as well or better. We need continue to get wins against teams we feel like we’re better than, or even if we don’t feel like we match up that day, we still need to try and do the best we can.”

The Braves didn’t match well Wednesday. Not with reserves at several positions and Gee facing Loe, who’s pitched for three major league teams this season and given up a startling 11 homers in 22 innings.

Gee is 5-2 with a 1.94 ERA in his past 10 starts after limiting the Braves to four hits, one run and one walk in seven innings. The right-hander is 2-2 with a 2.36 ERA in five starts against the Braves over the past two seasons.

“He’s got three or four pitches that he’s throwing in the strike zone when he feels like it,” Johnson said. “If you’ve got four pitches that you can command, it’s going to be a tough day at the plate.”

Loe allowed no runs in four of his past five Triple-A starts, but the Mets feasted on mediocre fastballs and breaking balls over the plate. He had three walks and no strikeouts and fell to 13-20 with a 5.17 ERA in 48 career starts.