Maybe the Mets are the cure to what ails the Braves. At least, they’ve provided a good start to this holiday weekend.
The Braves, fresh off three consecutive series losses, opened this four-game set with a 5-3 win on Friday at Truist Park. It’s one game – 24 hours from now the Braves might be fretting again – but what a relief, however fleeting, this was.
They pitched. They had five hits, four towering homers. Their lively sell-out crowd had reason to cheer again. This time, the only person booed was Mets outfielder Juan Soto.
Outfielder Michael Harris II smacked a two-run blast off reliable Mets southpaw Christian Scott. The game was reset with Soto’s homer off starter Grant Holmes, but this time the Braves persisted. Second baseman Ozzie Albies and first baseman Matt Olson launched solo homers. Olson even added another in the eighth for his first multi-homer performance since June 9.
Olson’s first shot came off Mets lefty A.J. Minter, who pitched at Truist Park for the first time as a visitor. Minter will forever be a Braves legend for his heroics during their 2021 World Series run, as well as several other productive seasons before the Mets signed him ahead of the 2025 campaign.
“I’ll let (Minter) reach out to me,” Olson said, laughing, when asked if Minter would be hearing from him. “I reached out to him when he punched me out in New York. I FaceTimed him, and we had a nice little convo about it, so I’ll wait for him to reach out. Obviously, Mint was one of my guys here.”
The homers were a welcome sight. The Braves had endured a rare power drought – 10 consecutive games with less than two runs, an extreme rarity for a typically explosive lineup. Fans here used to be spoiled by homers; Friday’s outburst felt like a new feeling again.
“You want to be multi-dimensional, but we all love homers,” manager Walt Weiss said. “And we’re capable of doing that. It’s been part of our identity here for a long time.”
Lefty Danny Young, who’s returned after recovering from Tommy John surgery, made his season debut with a scoreless seventh. He issued a two-out walk to Soto on a successful Mets challenge – the ball just missed the strike zone – but retired Bo Bichette on a grounder to end the frame.
Young teamed with Dylan Dodd, Didier Fuentes and Raisel Iglesias to allow one run over four innings. Iglesias had an uneven ninth, surrendering that run on three hits. Holmes avoided the walks that’ve plagued him in starts, issuing just one while allowing two runs over his five frames.
The Braves increased their National League East lead to three games because the Phillies were idle. Consider it another plus in a desperately needed good day.
It was a rotten June for the Braves, and they’ve dropped six of their past seven series after losing only two series prior. They’re attempting to finish the first half with a rebound. They’ll face the Mets three more times at home before a road trip to Pittsburgh and St. Louis before the All-Star break.
“It’s knowing what kind of team we are,” Harris said. “Obviously we had a lot of success early, so the little rut we were in, you don’t think too much about it. You just try to do the little things in games to get out of it, and (Friday) it was about hitting homers and good pitching.”
The Braves and Mets continue their series at 8:08 p.m. Saturday when Chris Sale (8-6, 2.10) opposes lefty Sean Manaea (1-3, 4.71).
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