The Mets fell behind early against the Atlanta Braves and lost 14-1 in Sunday's rubber match at Citi Field. > Box score
Six things to know from Sunday's game...
1. RHP Rick Porcello got off to a shaky start in the first inning, allowing a double to 2B Ozzie Albies and following with a walk to 1B Freddie Freeman. After LF Marcell Ozuna flied out to center field, the Braves knocked in a pair of RBI singles between consecutive knocks by DH Matt Adams and SS Dansby Swanson, taking a 2-0 lead.
Porcello ran into trouble again in the third inning. After a miscue by 3B Jeff McNeil allowed Albies to reach on a fielding error, a pair of walk-double sequences (Freeman and Ozuna followed by Adams and Swanson) suddenly saw the Braves grow a 5-1 lead with zero outs.
Manager Luis Rojas subsequently took Porcello out of the game. Porcello ultimately ended a rocky debut with seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and three walks to one strikeout in two innings.
2. Following Porcello's exit, the Mets turned to RHP Corey Oswalt. After issuing a walk and letting up an RBI double to CF Ender Inciarte, growing the Braves' 7-1 lead, Oswalt got three straight outs -- a strikeout, ground out to McNeil at third and pop out to SS Amed Rosario.
Oswalt ate up some innings, but ultimately did not fare much better, coming back out in the fourth and allowing a two-run home run to Swanson with two outs. In his four innings of long relief, he gave up five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts to one walk.
3. After a 5-4-3 double play got Porcello out of the second inning, the Mets answered in the bottom half with a two-out rally. C Tomas Nido walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch by LHP Sean Newcomb. In a 1-2 count, CF Brandon Nimmo delivered, bringing home Nido with a two-out double and putting the Mets on the board.
The Mets made the Braves sweat in the fourth inning, knocking Newcomb out, but were unable to scratch another run across. Newcomb surrendered one run on three hits and two walks, striking out one, in 3 1/3 innings pitched. RHP Jhoulys Chacin entered in relief and got the Braves out of the fourth inning on Rosario's pop out to C William Contreras and McNeil's line out to RF Ronald Acuna, stranding Nido and Nimmo.
4. Swanson's two-run home run off Oswalt in the fourth inning started a bit of a trend for the Braves. In the sixth inning, Oswalt allowed a pair of solo shots -- Ozuna's leadoff homer to left-center and 3B Austin Riley's two-out blast off the third deck in left -- that brought the Braves' lead to 12-1.
5. Facing an 11-run deficit, the Mets made several lineup changes, sporting a defense that saw 3B Andres Gimenez (McNeil) and 2B Luis Guillorme (Robinson Cano) in the seventh inning. RHP Paul Sewald entered in relief of Oswalt, but he saw his own struggles. Sewald allowed a two-run home run to Albies that scored Contreras, who led off with a single, to build the Braves' 14-1 lead over the Mets.
6. Cano dropped further in the Mets lineup -- after appearing at sixth and fifth, respectively, on Friday and Saturday -- but an 0-for-3 game ensued. At the plate, only RF Michael Conforto (1 for 3) and LF J.D. Davis (1 for 4) joined Nido and Nimmo among the Mets' six hits.
What’s next?
The Mets hop on a bus and take their first road trip of 2020 on Monday when they face the Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston. First pitch in the opener of a home-and-home, four-game series is set for 7:35 p.m. on SNY. RHP Michael Wacha is slated to debut for the Mets against LHP Josh Osich, an opener for the Red Sox.