The New York Mets will play a division leader for the third consecutive series when they host the Atlanta Braves for a three-game set starting Monday night.
After rallying to beat the National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday and snap a three-game skid, the Mets seek back-to-back victories for the first time since July 8-9 against Kansas City.
Zac Thornton (1-1, 1.93 ERA), a promising left-handed rookie, makes his fifth start and is coming off his first victory in the big leagues. Last Tuesday, he threw six shutout innings in Milwaukee, limiting the NL Central leader to just three hits and a walk as the Mets beat the Brewers 4-0.
The 24-year-old has thrown 18 straight scoreless innings over his last three starts.
Offensively, Tyrone Taylor has enjoyed a strong July, doing so even with limited plate appearances. The Mets outfielder, 32, returned to the team in late June after missing a month due to a right hip flexor strain. Since July 4, he’s hit five home runs in 27 at-bats, including a go-ahead, three-run shot in the sixth inning against the Dodgers that put the Mets up for good in their 8-3 win Sunday.
Over his last 14 games, Taylor is hitting .370 (10-for-27) with nine RBIs. He’s also performed well against lefties this season, batting .292 (19-for-65) with four homers and 11 RBIs.
The Braves, the NL East pacesetters, will start Martin Perez (6-6, 3.38). The left-hander has lost three of his last four starts and only thrown five full innings once in that span. He went four in his most recent start on Wednesday against San Diego. Coming off 16 days’ rest, he allowed only one hit and struck out three while not allowing a run. However, he issued four walks in the no-decision.
Atlanta has won seven of its 10 games coming out of the All-Star break, including Sunday, when it beat the host Baltimore Orioles 3-2 in 11 innings. The Braves survived a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the 10th inning before Austin Riley hit an RBI double in the ensuing frame.
“I talk about gritty wins,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “That’s another gritty win. We’ve had several of those recently.”
Drake Baldwin is following up his NL Rookie of the Year campaign last season with a better one this year. The All-Star catcher already has 20 homers, one more than last year, while improving his slugging and on-base percentages.
However, he has not fared well against the Mets or at Citi Field. He’s hit just .217 (10-for-46) against them in 14 games with two home runs and nine RBIs. In Queens, he was just 2-for-15 (.133) in five games last season.
While Atlanta is looking to make the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons, the Mets are last in the NL East, 18.5 games back and already looking to next year. That means they will probably be sellers ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
After New York hosts Atlanta, the Miami Marlins will come to town for a four-game series, so there will be no scheduled off days this week. Among the trade candidates are several relievers, but Mets interim manager Andy Green said while they will “be conservative to some degree,” he will still use trade candidates if they are sound.
“We’re here today,” he said. “We play to win a baseball game. We’ll do the same tomorrow.”
–Field Level Media
