Mets beat the Braves 7-2 giving Ian Anderson his first MLB loss
Yes, the Braves are in a pennant race. They are trying to win a division for the third year in a row.
But let's be honest. Twenty-two year old Ian Anderson is also just getting his feet wet in the Major Leagues. And along that highway will be some speed bumps that he will have to learn from.
Saturday night was one of those occasions. Anderson walked the first three batters he faced in the first inning. Then Robinson Cano drove in two with a single, but Anderson minimized the damage and the Mets scored only those two runs.
They added a run in the fourth inning to make the score 3-0. That was it. Anderson would up going 4.2 innings, giving up three runs on four hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.
Brian Snitker did the right thing by sending Anderson out for the fifth inning, even though he had thrown 89 pitches through four innings.
Anderson was still throwing 94 mph in the fifth. To start the inning, he struck out the first batter and then got a ground out from the second hitter. Snitker then pulled Anderson with 99 pitches.
Atlanta had several scoring opportunities, but they left 23 runners on base. The Braves only two runs came on home runs, by Adam Duvall (16) in the sixth inning and one by Travis d'Arnaud (9) in the eighth inning.
With the 7-2 loss, the Braves are now 2.5 games up on the Marlins and 3.0 games up on the Phillies, who both won on Saturday.
The Marlins have another double-header with the Nationals on Sunday, so if Atlanta were to lose and the Marlins were to sweep the DH, the Marlins could come to Truist Park Monday only one game back in the NL East.
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