ATLANTA — The Mets got four hits and couldn't handle the four Braves' batted balls.
Such ratios rarely lead to wins.
There was little good going on for the Mets, but their defense was especially poor in the series opener against the Braves on Tuesday at Truist Park, resulting in a disappointing 5-1 loss.
“We didn't play well,” Carlos Mendoza admitted after the Mets were graciously penalized for just one error. “We just didn't make some plays.”
The Mets' problems started in the first inning and never stopped.
Atlanta's second batter of the game, Ozzie Albies, hit a grounder to Luis Ángel Acuña that should have resulted in a double play, but Acuña fumbled it, only to be out at second base.
No runs were scored as a result of the error, but Luis Severino had to face Matt Olson and Jorge Soler after the third out, forcing him to throw eight extra pitches.
After two innings, the mistakes started to show on the scoreboard. The bottom of the third started with an Orlando Arcia bunt that went nicely down the third base line. The ball was equidistant from Severino and Francisco Alvarez, both of whom chased it down.
“I said, 'Okay, I get it,'” Severino said, “but I don't think he heard me.”
Severino reached first base and then rose to throw to first, as the quarterback was about to absorb the charge, but Alvarez ran into him in the process, Severino pulled the throw, and the ball bounced into left field, allowing Arcia to reach second base.
Mets lose. Getty Images
Mendoza said the ball was in “no man's land.”
“It's going to be a tough play for Seby. It's going to be a tough play for Alby,” Mendoza said of the lone mistake. “We just didn't finish it. They couldn't make the play and it gave them momentum.”
Michael Harris II followed with an RBI double to put the Mets in a bind they couldn't escape, then Albies singled to right field and Starling Marte caught it without an out.
But Marte got past the cutoff man and a late throw to Alvarez allowed Albies to advance to second base. That proved to be a blow when Ramon Laureano singled through the right field to give the Braves their third run.
The final blunder came in the sixth inning of a game where the Mets just couldn't get back on track.
With one out, former Yankee Gio Urshela hit a liner to left field, but Brandon Nimmo said he thought he had a “50/50” chance of catching it.
He sprinted, avoided dangerous dives and tried to drop the ball with his body.
Instead, the ball bounced off him and bounced off his back, allowing Urshela to advance to second base.
“It was a really good hit, with a lot of topspin,” Nimmo said. “It's one of those plays that's hard to play on the left side. You get caught in between.”
On a night when the Mets couldn't get a hit, their defense didn't give them any chances.
