Mets takeaways from 4-1 win over Braves, including Max Scherzer's gem

The Mets kicked off their three-game set in Atlanta with a 4-1 win over the Braves on Monday.

Here are the takeaways...

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- Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a walk, but Max Fried retired his next three batters. In the second, Luis Guillorme laced a one-out double, and two batters later, Travis Jankowski was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat in almost two months, but they were left stranded. 

Nimmo hit a leadoff double in the third, and two batters later, Pete Alonso got a double of his own past a diving Austin Riley that scored Nimmo for the first run of the ballgame. The Mets then loaded the bases, and Guillorme just beat out a potential double play ball – instead of ending the inning, it was 2-0 Mets.

The Mets got Fried out of the game after five innings where he walked five (he allowed five walks through all of June) and threw 99 pitches. He left in line for the loss, but it could have been a much worse deficit for Atlanta – the Mets were just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position against the lefty.

- But that was all fine with Max Scherzer. He picked up right where he left off from his last outing, retiring his first eight batters before former Met Robinson Cano singled in the third. After that single, he then retired 12 in a row before running into some trouble.

With two outs in the seventh, he served up a solo home run to Austin Riley (it was his first run allowed since coming off the IL), and then allowed a double to Marcell Ozuna. But he struck out Eddie Rosario to leave the tying run stranded. Other than that blip, Scherzer was virtually untouchable. Overall, he allowed just that one run on three hits while walking none and striking out nine. He also passed CC Sabathia on the all-time strikeout list with his 3,094^th career punch out.

His ERA is now down to 2.15. Since coming off the IL, he's allowed just one earned in 13 innings, striking out 20 and walking zero.

- The Mets didn't like leading by just one, though - Guillorme got that run back immediately, blasting a leadoff home run in the eighth inning to give the Mets a 3-1 lead.

- Adam Ottavino came on for relief in the eighth, and got the first two outs easily. However, Cano got his second hit of the night, and Ronald Acuna Jr. doubled, and the tying run was in scoring position. But Dansby Swanson grounded out on the first pitch to keep the Mets in front by two.

- The Mets kicked off the top of the ninth by putting runners on the corners with no outs for Alonso. Alonso's fielder's choice (as the Braves played for the double play instead of the out at home) drove in his 72nd run of the season and gave the Mets a 4-1 lead.

The bottom half of the ninth belonged to Edwin Diaz, who was on for a third-straight day -- as if that mattered. He struck out all three batters he faced. His K/9 this year is now at 18.08.

In his last 18 outings, he has allowed a run just once spanning 17.2 innings (0.51 ERA) and has struck out 19.87 batters per nine innings (39 strikeouts). In his last eight (7.2 innings), he has 19 strikeouts. That's a K/9 of 22.3, as he has struck out at least two batters in each of his last eight outings.

- Mark Canha reached base three times. In his last eight games, he is hitting .348 with a .531 on-base percentage.

- Francisco Lindor had his third three-hit game of the season and now has a five-game hitting streak.

- With Monday's win, the Mets are ensured to end the series in first place in the NL East. They now lead by 2.5 games (three in the loss column).

Highlights

What's next

The Mets and Braves continue their three game series Tuesday at 7:20 p.m.

David Peterson (5-1, 3.48 ERA) and Spencer Strider (4-2, 2.60 ERA) are the probable pitchers.