New York Mets interim manager Andy Green was intent on focusing on the positives as his team prepares to play the finale of a four-game series in Atlanta on Monday.
After losing 12 of their last 14 games, the Mets ended a three-game skid with a 10-9 victory on Sunday despite nearly blowing a seven-run advantage in the ninth inning by committing three errors.
“These guys want to win baseball games, they’re passionate about winning baseball games,” Green said. “They just won a baseball game. It was good to see the offense on both sides of the game, five runs at the beginning, five runs at the end, put 10 runs on the board. There’s a lot of good things to take out of this game, and we’re going to take the good out of it.”
The teams have split their first six meetings.
The Mets will send veteran Freddy Peralta (5-7, 4.81 ERA) to the mound on Monday to face Atlanta’s Reynaldo Lopez (4-1, 3.31).
Peralta is coming off a poor start at Toronto on Wednesday when he allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks in four innings of a 9-3 loss. He has allowed 18 runs (15 earned) in a combined 12 1/3 innings over his last three starts.
“I just need to be better,” Peralta said.
Peralta has had good success against Atlanta, going 6-2 with a 4.01 ERA in 10 career appearances, nine starts. He beat the Braves on June 14 after allowing one run in five innings.
Lopez has made two starts since rejoining the rotation. He threw five strong innings against St. Louis on Wednesday, allowing only one run on two hits and one walk while striking out six.
“I’ve talked about him trending in a good direction,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “That was really good, not only the velocity but the slider was his old slider, which was really encouraging. If we get that Lopey in the rotation, that’s a huge boost for us. That was the best part of the win for me was what Lopey did.”
In 10 career appearances, four starts, against the Mets, Lopez is 2-2 with a 2.13 ERA. In his All-Star season of 2024, he made three appearances against New York and did not allow a run in 10 innings. He threw one scoreless inning of relief against the Mets on June 14.
The Atlanta rotation took another jolt on Sunday after Martin Perez was struck on his pitching hand by a comebacker and had to leave the game. Weiss said X-rays were negative, but Perez likely would be placed on the injured list and not return until after the All-Star break.
The injury likely means Atlanta will add another arm to the bullpen; the Braves have been playing with seven relievers rather than eight.
“This probably allows us to get back to that eight-man pen with Martin’s spot,” Weiss said. “That’s why it’s been a little different here lately. You can pop in six starters here and there, but it’s hard to go on a run with six starters because you’re just short every night in the pen.”
New York’s Carson Benge went 0-for-5 on Sunday, ending his nine-game hitting streak and his 16-game on-base streak.
–Field Level Media
