7/23 Game Recap: Mets Top Braves 4-1

Tonight at Citi Field, the Mets took on the Braves in the second game of a four game set.

Jul 23, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher

(52) pitches during the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta got on the board immediately, when Andrelton Simmons led off with a homer to left.

After struggling early against Braves starter Kris Medlen, the Mets evened things at 1 in the third when Juan Lagares doubled, moved to third on a deep flyout from Omar Quintanilla, and scored when Carlos Torres singled to left through the drawn in infield.  That’s where the score stayed until the bottom of the sixth.

After Daniel Murphy and David Wright lined back to back singles to open the frame, Braves third baseman Chris Johnson dove to rob Marlon Byrd of a double while forcing out the runner at second.  After falling into a 1-2 hole, Ike Davis smoked a double off the right field wall to drive in Murphy and give the Mets a 2-1 lead.  With the Braves playing the infield in, John Buck followed Davis’ hit by ripping a single to center to drive in Byrd, knock Medlen out of the game, and increase New York’s lead to 3-1.   With runners on the corners and one out, Juan Lagares lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Davis and put the Mets up by 3.

The Mets bullpen took over from there, combining to toss three scoreless innings to nail down the 4-1 victory.

Highlights:

• Carlos Torres got the start for the Mets and worked in and out of trouble while tossing 6 solid innings.  He allowed 1 run on 7 hits, walked 2 and struck out 6.  He also hit a batter.  Since being called up from AAA, Torres has an ERA of 0.94.

• Ike Davis gave the Mets a lead with an RBI double off the wall in the 6th.

• Juan Lagares continues to excel.  After fielding a line drive single in the 1st, he threw out Jason Heyward at the plate in the first inning.  At the plate, Lagares went 1 for 2 with a sacrifice fly, an RBI, and a run scored.

• David Aardsma and Scott Rice combined to pitch a scoreless 7th.

• LaTroy Hawkins tossed a perfect 8th.

• Bobby Parnell pitched a flawless 9th to record his 19th save.

Thoughts:

After a very tough loss last night, the Mets bounced back to play a solid game tonight and even the series at a game apiece.  Carlos Torres continued to be a revelation (though he was a bit less sharp than he has been), Juan Lagares contributed on both sides of the ball, and the bullpen was lights out.  As crazy as it sounds, the Mets have the same amount of losses as the Nationals, and are just 3.5 games behind Philadelphia for second place in the N.L. East.

Next Up:

The Mets host the Braves in the third game of their four game set tomorrow night at 7:10 PM.  Jeremy Hefner gets the start for New York.  He’ll be opposed by Tim Hudson.

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