Matt Olson opened the scoring with a three-run homer in the fourth inning Sunday afternoon for the visiting Atlanta Braves, who salvaged a split of a four-game series by beating the New York Mets 9-2.
Orlando Arcia, Austin Riley and Ramon Laureano also homered for the Braves, who outscored the Mets 13-2 in winning the final two games of the series. Riley finished with two hits.
Atlanta, which lost six straight prior to Saturday’s victory, leads New York by 1 1/2 games in the race for the top wild-card spot in the National League.
Pete Alonso hit a two-run homer in the eighth to snap a 20-inning scoreless streak for the Mets, who lost back-to-back games for the first time since July 14 and 19, when they dropped the final game before the All-Star Break against the Colorado Rockies and the second-half opener against the Miami Marlins.
Alonso and Tyrone Taylor had two hits apiece.
Dylan Lee (3-2) earned the win with two innings of three-hit ball in relief of starter Reynaldo Lopez, who departed after three innings due to right forearm tightness. Lopez gave up three hits and one walk with two strikeouts but held the Mets hitless in nine plate appearances with runners on.
Mets starter David Peterson (5-1) took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits and three walks while striking out seven over five innings.
Peterson retired nine of the first 10 batters before the Braves forced him to throw 40 pitches during a four-run fourth. Riley walked and Marcell Ozuna singled before Olson homered into the second deck in right field. Travis d’Arnaud walked, took second on a wild pitch, went to third on a one-out single by Nacho Alvarez Jr. and scored on another wild pitch.
Ryne Stanek made his Mets debut in the seventh and gave up Arcia’s leadoff homer and Riley’s one-out, two-run blast. Laureano homered with one out in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
