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There will come a time when the Mets will sweep a series at Truist Park. That time just happens to not be this weekend. The Mets lost to Atlanta 4-3.

Atlanta starter Bryce Elder came into the contest with a horrid ERA. However, he pitched well against the Mets at Citi Field 10 days prior. And he pretty much repeated that outlier of a performance. The one exception was Mark Vientos, who hit a two-run homer in the top of the third. It was Swaggy V’s third homer in as many at-bats, tying a franchise record. 

The Mets had opportunities - unfortunately they got back to their old loser RISP struggling ways. In the third, Cedric Mullins was hit by a pitch. Francisco Lindor struck out looking. Juan Soto walked to move Mullins to second. Pete Alonso grounded out to the shortstop and Jeff McNeil struck out looking too. With two outs in the fourth, Ronny Mauricio and Luis Torrens hit back-to-back singles.Mullins popped up to the second baseman to end that threat. Elder ended up going six innings, permitting just two earned runs on three hits. He walked two but struck out six. 

David Peterson was doing David Peterson things for the first five innings. Through five he struck out eight batters and walked two. He only gave up three hits - one was a blooper and another never left the infield. But in the sixth, he grew tired even though his pitch count was in the seventies to start. After getting Ronald Acuña Jr. to ground out to third, Petey walked Marcell Ozuna. Ozzie Albies almost hit into an inning-ending double play, but he just beat the rap. (Mauricio-Baty-Vientos went around the horn just fine.) Michael Harris II got himself a broken bat single, moving Albies to second. Peterson then walked Nacho Alvarez Jr. to load ‘em up. Surprisingly, Carlos Mendoza didn’t take him out right then and there. Instead, Sean Murphy singled to right to score two runs and tie the game at two. 

The Metsies had a golden opportunity to answer back in the top of the seventh against Pierce Johnson, the dude who gave up Lindor’s Game 161 home run. With two outs, Mullins and Lindor both walked. Against lefty Dylan Lee, Soto walked too to load the bases. But Alonso, who had an 0 for 5 day, grounded out to third. 

Against the usually reliable Gregory Soto in the bottom of the eighth, Atlanta took the lead. Ozzie Albies started the proceedings off with a single. Soto got the next two batters out. Then he walked Sean Murphy, and on a 1-2 pitch plunked Vidal Bruján. Then, Jurickson Profar hit a ball to center that Mullins couldn’t quite get to and landed in front of him. 4-2 Atlanta. Some folks think Tyrone Taylor, playing left field at the time, would have gotten to the ball. It’s possible - unlike Mullins, Taylor has a great first step. In any case, it would have been a hard play to make and it was a tough break for the Mets. 

The Mets tried to rally in the top of the ninth. Against Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias, pinch hitter Brandon Nimmo flew out to left. Mullins singled to right. Lindor singled as well, moving Mullins to second. Juan Soto, down in the count 0-2, laced a single to the opposite field, scoring Mullins and moving Lindor to second. But the Polar Bear popped up to short, and Jeff McNeil popped it up to his fellow first baseman Matt Olson in foul territory. 

The Mets are now 0-53 this season when trailing after eight innings. That stat continues to blow my mind.

 ***

Yep, Jeff McNeil played first base in the bottom of the eighth. Pete Alonso was serving as the designated hitter, and Mark Vientos, who started at first, was pinch run for by Tyrone Taylor. The Squirrel had been out in left (I’m guessing his shoulder is just fine now), so Taylor took his spot and McNeil took Vientos’. This is the second time in four days that Mendoza opted not to lose the designated hitter spot, leading to an awkward defensive replacement. (On Thursday, McNeil played left field late in the game even though he had to throw sidearm between innings.)

Cedric Mullins is an A- center fielder. He’s talented and fast, but doesn’t have the best first step to the ball. Tyrone Taylor is an A+ center fielder - he’s also talented and fast and does have a good first step. Despite this, Mullins plays center even when Taylor is in the game. The reason given is that Mullins is not comfortable playing left field. That tracks - Mullins has played 734 games in center, a grand total of three in left. But playing Mullins in center in lieu of Taylor may have cost the Mets the game yesterday. Not only that, Mullins and Taylor almost collided yesterday when both tracked down a fly ball. I’m worried there will be another Mike Cameron-Carlos Beltran collision. An uncomfortable but ultimately ideal solution would be to just replace Mullins for Taylor straight up in center - never have them both in the outfield at the same time. I know that sounds kind of nuts, and there’s no chance it’ll happen, but I’m trying to prevent disaster here. 

Brandon Nimmo made a pinch hitting appearance in the 9th inning of yesterday’s ballgame. Carlos Mendoza said “there’s a good chance” he is in the starting lineup tonight. That of course really all depends on how Nimmo wakes up this morning. 

Luis Torrens (sore catching hand) and Jeff McNeil (right shoulder pain) were both in the lineup. McNeil even started in left, so his shoulder must be fine or reasonably decent. Nimmo looks to be ready to go beginning tonight, so it looks like the Mets got lucky health-wise with those three.

A few hours before he was scheduled to start for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets, Brandon Sproat the GOAT was not in the posted starting lineup. Almost immediately, one of the Syracuse announcers tweeted that Sproat will come out of the bullpen instead. “It is an opportunity for Sproat to get some experience entering a game from the bullpen in case that’s a role the Mets need him in.” Hmm. Sproat ended up entering the game to start the second inning and threw 77 pitches. Basically, it was a starting assignment that began an inning later than usual. That leads me to think the current plan is for Sproat to be promoted to the big leagues in a relief role, but if the starting rotation continues to struggle, and if Jonah Tong isn’t enough of a panacea, Sproat would join the rotation too. David Stearns and company are keeping their options open. Unfortunately, Sproat didn’t have a good time yesterday. More on that in the minor league results section.

Daniel Wexler reported that undrafted free agent John Bay is already getting promoted to the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones.

The Phillies and Reds both won. That was lame.

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets (64-62) attempted a comeback but fell short in a shortened eight-inning game to Indianapolis (Pirates affiliate). They lost 12-9. Austin Warren pitched the first inning, where he gave up four earned runs. Sproat wasn’t much better - his final line: 3.2 IP 7 H 7 R 5 ER 2 BB 4 K 1 HR allowed. In his defense,1) he was pitching in “relief” which he isn’t used to, 2) facing the same team he pitched against five days before, 3)said team has one of the best offenses in the International League, and 4)the Syracuse defense did him no favors. LF Jared Young went 3 for 5 with two home runs, a double, three runs scored, and two RBI. He’s now hitting exactly .300 in Triple-A with a .968 OPS.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies (78-40) scored four unanswered runs to get past the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) by a score of 12-10. CF A.J. Ewing went 3 for 5 with a double, three runs scored, a walk, and three stolen bases. 2B D’Andre Smith went 3 for 6 with a double, a run scored and three RBI. 1B Jacob Reimer went 3 for 5 with a home run, a triple, two runs scored, and three RBI. Ben Simon, Ryan Lambert, and Carlos Guzman combined to hold Portland scoreless for the final two and two thirds innings.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones (68-52) fell to the Aberdeen IronBirds (Orioles) 3-1. The ‘Clones were held to just four hits, but three were doubles by DH Vincent Perozo, 1B Trace Willhoite, and CF Eli Serrano III. In a bullpen game, Juan Arnaud got the loss.

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets (71-48) handled the Palm Beach Cardinals, defeating them by a score of 8-1. In reportedly his last game for St. Lucie, John Bay homered. SS Antonio Jimenez, 1B Randy Guzman, 3B Yonatan Henriquez, and DH Jeremy Rodriguez had two hits each. Joel Lara got the dub. He threw four hitless innings while walking one and striking out four. 

Tonight the Mets start a series with the Phillies at Citi Field. Philadelphia is seven games ahead of New York in the NL East standings, but there’s more than 17 games left to play. (Too soon?) The lefty Cristopher Sánchez (11-4, 2.46 ERA) will get the starting nod for the Phillies. Kodai Senga (7-5, 2.58 ERA) will take the ball on four-days rest for the first time this season. Senga only did that three times before in his MLB career - he went 1-0 with a 4.61 ERA in those games, as opposed to 15-9 with a 2.70 ERA on five days rest. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm eastern. The game will air on SNY. If you’re going to the game, please take mass transit - the US Open just started next door.