ATLANTA -- The Mets arrived in Atlanta knowing that they could put themselves in position to clinch a division title on Sunday night by winning each of the first two games of their pivotal series against the Braves.
Of course, it's no small task to go on the road against a division rival and win two straight, let alone when the two clubs are locked in a tight NL East race. Yet with Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer lined up for those contests, it was certainly within reach for New York.
Instead, the Braves hit three homers off deGrom to defeat him on Friday, then added two more off Scherzer to hand him the loss in a 4-2 decision on Saturday night at Truist Park. That dropped the Mets (98-60) one game behind the Braves (99-59) in the NL East race with four games remaining.
Games remaining: 4 (After this series, the Mets host the Nationals, while the Braves play at Miami)
Standings update: 1 game behind Atlanta in NL East
Tiebreaker info: The winner of Sunday's series finale will clinch the tiebreaker
"It feels terrible. Those are our guys,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said of losing consecutive games with deGrom and Scherzer on the mound. “Those are our best shots and they stuffed them in our face. It doesn't feel good, no. Doesn't feel good at all. But you've got to find a way to bounce back tomorrow."
The good news for the Mets is Sunday's finale essentially carries the weight of two games.
After all, New York and Atlanta are now tied 9-9 in the head-to-head season series. That means the winner of Sunday's series finale also clinches the all-important tiebreaker, since there will be no Game 163 this year under the new tiebreaker rules.
In other words, though the Mets are trailing by one game, a win on Sunday would essentially catapult them into a half-game lead in the NL East, despite the standings showing a tie. They would go into next week's series against the Nationals at Citi Field with a magic number of three.
On the other hand, if the Braves complete the sweep, their division lead essentially jumps from one game to 2 1/2 games, with only three to play. That means they would enter their final series of the season in Miami needing only one win or one Mets loss to clinch the division crown.
“Everybody knows what's ahead of them and what [the situation] was when we got here. And so does Atlanta,” manager Buck Showalter said. “That's why you've got two really good teams competing here in October. It means a lot to both of the teams, so you have to turn the page emotionally and mentally and get ready for the next challenge.”
The Mets’ latest setback came despite staking Scherzer to a pair of leads. Nimmo led off the game with a base hit and later scored on Eduardo Escobar's groundout, but Atlanta starter Kyle Wright limited New York to just one run in the opening frame despite loading the bases with only one out. After the Braves tied the game in the bottom of the fourth, the Mets reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth with three straight two-out singles from Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil.
Atlanta answered in the bottom half with Dansby Swanson teeing off for a go-ahead two-run homer on a ball that left the bat at 107.7 mph. That was one of 12 hard-hit balls (exit velocity of at least 95 mph) allowed by Scherzer, two more than he had given up in any other outing this season.
"They're really good. I'm not here to take anything away from them -- they've got a great lineup,” Scherzer said. “I feel like if I execute my pitches, I still feel like I can beat them. But if I don't execute my pitches, they're going to beat me. Very thin room for error."
The same now applies to the division race. After watching their co-aces lose two games in as many nights, the Mets will turn to Chris Bassitt for Sunday night’s pivotal finale, while the Braves call on veteran righty Charlie Morton.
Bassitt is 8-1 with a 2.25 ERA in 10 outings since the start of August. Atlanta is an NL-best 19-8 since the start of September.
"They're peaking at the right time and they're a good team,” Nimmo said. “We've just been beaten the last two days, and we'll have to come out and try to give it our best effort tomorrow."
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