Braves Miss Great Opportunity Against New York Mets

The adage is good baseball teams win half their games on the road. The saying definitely applies to a four-game series away from home.

But after winning the first two contests this week versus the New York Mets at Citi Field, the Atlanta Braves dropped the final two of the series. Atlanta heads home with a split, but it's more bitter than sweet, especially given where the two teams are in the National League East standings.

"You get those first two wins, you're hoping for a little bit more," said Braves analyst C.J. Nitkowski on the team's FanDuel stream right after Atlanta lost Thursday night 4-0.

The Braves came back to beat the Mets on Tuesday despite falling behind 3-0. But the New York bullpen, along with the Mets starters, held Atlanta to three runs over the final 18 innings of the series.

On Thursday, the New York pitching staff kept Braves leadoff hitter Ronald Acuña off the bases entirely. With an 0-for-4 at the plate, Acuña snapped a 21-game on-base streak.

First baseman Matt Olson, who is now in the No. 2 spot in the batting order, extended his on-base streak to 27 games Thursday. But it took a nine-inning single with two outs for the first baseman to reach first.

The Braves had just two other hits before Olson's meaningless single in the ninth.

With the loss, the Braves fell back to six games below .500. They finished the road trip 3-4, which isn't bad, but it doesn't help the team make up ground in the playoff race.

It also hurts that the Braves lost the series to the last placed Miami Marlins to begin the road trip.

The Mets were reeling coming into the week. They had lost nine of 10 after the Braves won the first two in New York this week. But the Mets found their footing versus Atlanta starters Didier Fuentes and Grant Holmes, and the Braves lineup had no punch back.

The Braves will head home 10 games behind the Mets in the NL East. It could have been eight had they found a way to split the final two games and taken three of four at Citi Field.

But the Braves can't look back with any regret with the Philadelphia Phillies coming to Truist Park for the weekend. The Phillies are just half a game behind the Mets in the NL East.

There's half a season to go, but it's practically a must-win series at this point for the Braves. They can't afford to fall any further back in the standings.

The Braves managed not to fall any further behind thanks to the split in New York. But they didn't gain any ground either.