© Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
TAKEAWAYS: Atlanta Drops Series to the New York Mets on Thursday Afternoon
The Atlanta Braves dropped the finale to the New York Mets, resulting in their first series loss of the year
The Atlanta Braves dropped their “getaway day” matchup to the New York Mets, 16-4, to lose their first series of the year.
Here’s what you need to know about from the contest:
Allan Winans got a RUDE welcome from the Mets
Winans, a former Mets farmhand, made his third career start against New York and this one went much like the 2nd, as Winans was tagged for seven runs (six earned) in five innings of action. There was some defensive miscues - a changeup turned into a fly ball that went deeper than Michael Harris II expected out in center, while a ground ball ate Orlando Arcia alive for an error that extended the inning - but it wasn’t a great showing for Winans, who was officially charged with eight hits and two walks to only one strikeout.
Winans actually settled in towards the back half of the outing, retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced (all on groundouts), but the damage was done.
Final line for Winans: 5IP, 8H, 7R (6ER), 2BB to 1K in 82 pitches (52 strikes).
Atlanta’s offense started to figure out Quintana too late
The Braves offense was quiet early, not getting their first baserunner until Marcell Ozuna walked in the 2nd and with their first hit coming via Matt Olson two-out triple in the 4th inning. The bottom of the lineup is who first got Atlanta on the board, with #9 hitter Chadwick Tromp’s fifth-inning double scoring Adam Duvall (single) and Orlando Arcia (walk).
Marcell Ozuna battled for a single in an ten-pitch at-bat with one out in the 6th inning, pushing Quintana’s pitch count up to one hundred and chasing him from the game.
What happened to beating up on lefty starters?
This was a Braves team that was SO good against lefty starters last season - a .290/.354/.516 line with sixty homers in only 32 starts - that teams were deliberately adjusting their rotations to not even let the southpaws take the mound against Atlanta.
This season hasn’t quite been the same. Prior to this outing, the Braves were hitting only .229/.296/.410 against lefties this season, and today wasn’t much better: just three runs on five hits off of Quintana, with two walks to four strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
Atlanta’s been disproportionately impacted by weather early
Today’s game started almost an hour later due to showers passing through the area.
I remarked yesterday how the Braves, despite having played fewer games than virtually all of MLB, were still towards the top of baseball in several counting stats (and leading all of MLB in many rate stats):
But I’m not sure if many people realize just how severe Atlanta’s been impacted by weather so far this season. The Braves have already had three games postponed due to rain, with one (Opening Day against Philadelphia) being made up already and two still pending. They’ve also sat through three rain delays, one of which started a game late and two of which interrupted a game in progress, with the 2nd rain delay against the Chicago White Sox finally ending the game after eight innings.
The Minnesota Twins, who have also played only ten games and were rained out on Thursday, are the only team to have played less games than Atlanta on the 2024 season. The average team has played either twelve or thirteen games this season, with the two Korea teams, the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, sitting on fifteen games already completed.
What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?
Atlanta’s leaving town, flying to South Florida for a three-game set against the division rival Miami Marlins. Game one is set for Friday night, with Max Fried taking on Trevor Rogers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM, and there shouldn’t be any weather delays, as loanToday Park has a roof.