If Matt Wisler’s previous struggles were mental, as the Braves right-hander believes, this was a chance to break free from those bad thoughts.
Wisler was starting again on Friday after a series of poor outings sent him to the bullpen for one mind-clearing appearance. Those two innings at the Nationals went well but now the surging Mets were at Turner Field to test the rookie with their big bats.
Wisler passed, but the Braves failed again. The Mets sent them to their 10th consecutive home loss with a 5-1 victory behind promising rookie left-hander Steven Matz.
The Mets (80-61) earned at least a split of the four-game series as they make a run at the NL East title. The Braves (56-86) have lost 22 of their last 25 games and long ago began focusing on building a young core for the future.
They expect Wisler, 22, will be a key part of it. He has four quality pitches but Wisler said a “fear of failure” contributed to a rough stretch. That led to a loss of confidence, which snowballed into more bad starts and eventually resulted in Wisler’s temporary shift to the bullpen.
Back on the mound for his 15th big-league start, Wisler limited the Mets to seven hits and two runs over six innings. The Mets scored in the third on superlative slugger Yoenis Cespedes’ RBI double and again in the fifth on a balk by Wisler.
Wisler (5-7) gave the Braves a chance. He said he regained some of his moxie and had teammates tell him they noticed his mound presence was improved.
“Obviously I’ve got a lot of things to work on,” Wisler said. “I still had a lot of guys on base. But I felt better tonight. Mentally it felt better out there. I felt confident the whole game and was attacking guys. I wasn’t pitching in fear.”
Wisler left the game with a 2-1 deficit because Matz was effective, too. The Braves put runners on base against Matz in each of his five innings but, like Wisler, he kept wiggling out of trouble. Braves rookie Daniel Castro struck the only blow when he hit his first career home run in the fifth to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Matz earned his third win without a loss in four big-league starts. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Matz reminds him of veteran left-hander Cole Hamels when Hamels was first breaking into the majors.
“I am not comparing them as far as (accomplishments),” Gonzalez said. “The thing I am comparing is they are both left-handers, they’ve got great arms, they’ve got great secondary pitches… . This guy, barring any injuries, is going to be successful in the big leagues for a long time.”
The Mets extended their lead to 3-1 in the eighth inning when catcher Christian Bethancourt’s passed ball allowed Eric Young Jr. to score. They added two more runs on Cespedes’ towering home run against Arodys Vizcaino in the ninth.
Wisler didn’t get a win but he did execute his plan to go after hitters and bear down with runners on base. He did so in the third and fifth innings to hold the Mets to a run when they could have scored more.
“It was still believing I could get guys out,” Wisler said. “Still attacking from the stretch and making pitches and trying to get the outs and limit the damage.”
A lead-off walk for No. 1 hitter Curtis Granderson in the third inning got Wisler in trouble. Cespedes, who has sparked the Mets since they got him in a trade, knocked a double over the head of center fielder Michael Bourn to score Granderson from first base.
Wisler responded by retiring Daniel Murphy and David Wright on weak fly balls. He intentionally walked Lucas Duda and then stranded him and Cespedes when Travis d’Arnaud popped out.
The Mets opened the fifth inning with back-to-back singles by Granderson and Cespedes, prompting the Braves to get the bullpen working. Murphy followed with a sharp ground ball down the first-base line that Freddie Freeman dived to stop, preventing at least one run from scoring.
Wisler struck out Wright but not before he was called for a balk that scored Granderson. Wisler intentionally walked Duda again to get to d’Arnaud, and the move worked again when he struck him out.
After Freeman’s snag saved him in the fifth, Wisler got more defensive help in the sixth.
Michael Conforto led off with a drive to the warning track in center field. Bourn ran back and made a leaping, twisting catch just before his back hit the wall.
The next batter, Ruben Tejada, smacked a ground ball up the middle that second baseman Castro laid out to stop. Johnny Monell pinch hit for Matz, who had thrown 89 pitches, and Wisler struck him out to end the inning.
“I had great defense behind me tonight,” Wisler said. “One thing the guys tell me is, ‘Let them put it in play, we’ve got good guys behind you.’ I did that tonight.”
