Mets takeaways from Wednesday's win over Braves, including Francisco Lindor's three-run homer

Chris Bassitt allowed one run in six innings

7/13/2022, 7:42 PM
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The Mets powered their way to a 7-3 win over the Braves in Atlanta on Wednesday to prevail, 2-1, in an important series and push their lead in the NL East to 2 ½ games.

Here are the takeaways...

1) Talk about turning the tables: Coming into the day the Mets had hit 50 fewer home runs than the Braves, who lead the National League with 136, but on this day the NL East leaders flexed their power muscles, going deep three times against Charlie Morton in building a 5-1 lead after six innings.

Francisco Lindor had the big one -- a three-run bomb to right field in the third inning -- while Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha had solo shots in the second and sixth innings, respectively.

All this on a day when Buck Showalter had Luis Guillorme hitting cleanup for the first time in his career, seemingly a statement on the Mets’ need for power or at least an imposing hitter to give Pete Alonso some protection in the lineup.

Instead, the Mets raised their season total of home runs to 89 with their three long balls, though they were still out-homered 6-4 by the Braves in the series.

Guillorme, by the way, did deliver an opposite-field RBI double in the seventh inning, and he continues to play a key role offensively, hitting .308.

2) Though the Mets’ power stood out in the win on Wednesday, their patience at the plate was a theme in the series that is worth noting as a significant difference between them and the Braves.

That patience was important in running up the pitch counts on each of the Braves’ starting pitchers, Max Fried, Spencer Strider, and Morton, as none of them went more than five innings in their starts.

It was in contrast to the Braves’ approach, which borders on all-or-nothing this season. They lead the NL in home runs but also in strikeouts with 839. This series, all eight of the runs they scored were produced by long balls.

The Mets, meanwhile, have struck out 674 times, the second-lowest total in the NL. So even without Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil, New York outscored the Braves, 12-8, in the series.

3) Mets’ starting pitching mostly dominated the Braves’ lineup in the series. Max Scherzer, David Peterson, and Chris Bassitt combined to go 18 1/3 innings while allowing four runs, an ERA of 1.96.

As such, it seems Bassitt has regained his status as very dependable starter with a fifth straight solid-to-strong start since his rough patch in late May/early June.

The right-hander held the Braves to one run over six innings, doing it in his usual fashion, keeping hitters off balance by mixing a 93-94 mph fastball with an assortment of off-speed pitches, including his tantalizing 70 mph slow curve.

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The only run Bassitt gave up was on a Matt Olson home run in the sixth inning.

So it seems Bassitt is a long way from that five-stretch start where he gave up 22 earned runs and admitted he was lost, having never been through such a bad slump. In his last five starts, he is 3-2 with a 2.41 ERA. For the season, Bassitt is 7-6 with a 3.79 ERA.

4) Lindor’s numbers suddenly look All-Star worthy, even though he wasn’t selected for the NL team. With his three-run home run on Wednesday, the Mets’ shortstop has 16 for the season, and perhaps more significantly, he raised his RBI total to 64, the fourth-highest total in the NL and one more than Trea Turner for most among all shortstops.

Lindor’s home run was something of a personal victory, considering that he had been 2-for-27 lifetime against Morton until that home run.

At .244, Lindor’s batting average remains mediocre, but over his last six games he is 8-for-28 (.286) with three home runs and seven RBI. He’s also hitting .286 for the season with runners in scoring position.

5) As the Mets continue to look for relievers they can depend on in the late innings, Drew Smith offered some hope that he can regain his early-season form when he was dominant in April and May.

Smith went through a rough stretch recently, giving up home runs in three straight outings, but he pitched a scoreless inning against the Marlins on Sunday and then on Wednesday, working with a big lead he racked up five strikeouts in two innings, though he did give up another home run, a solo shot to Austin Riley.

Perhaps significant was that Smith got four of his strikeouts with his changeup, a pitch he had all but stopped using in recent weeks. The changeup was effective for Smith early in the season, and it seems clear he needs a third pitch to go with his fastball and slider.

Highlights

What's Next?

The Mets open a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday night at 8:05.

Carlos Carrasco gets the start for the Mets, opposed by Keegan Thompson for Chicago.

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