New York Mets’ Bullpen Keeps Atlanta at Arms Length

The 2021 Atlanta Braves have been devastated by injuries, starting pitcher Mike Soroka, catcher Travis d'Arnaud and superstar Ronald Acuna, Jr. to name a few. However, there is one special Braves player that remains in the line up and that is Freddie Freeman. The veteran first baseman is a star on a team that thought they would be contending for the National League East until injuries detoured that vision. However, as long as the 6'5" Californian is in on the field, the Braves are dangerous.

If Atlanta were to sweep the New York Mets in last night's doubleheader at Citi Field in Queens, the Braves would have only trailed the Mets by 3 games with a trifecta of games remaining in this series this week. Game one featured one of the remaining bright spots in the Mets injury plagued starting rotation, Marcus Stroman. The crafty New York native held Atlanta to 2 runs over 5 innings but like his rotation mate Jake deGrom has experienced so many times before, the Amazin' offense sputtered and failed to score. Mets lost game one 2-0.

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Prior to the nightcap, with the Braves 4 games behind the Mets in the standings and the Phillies 3, game two took on crucial importance. The organization believes that starting pitching help is on the way in a few days, via trades, Carlos Carasco, etc. but that didn't help last night. New York's bullpen was called upon to pitch 7 innings and win...and win they did.

Aaron Loop, Jeurys Familia, Anthony Banda, Trevor May, Seth Lugo and Edwin Diaz pitched a 7 inning, 4 hit gem, preserving the lone run scored by an anemic Mets offense last night, winning the game 1-0. Freddie Freeman did his best to send New York spiraling in the 8th inning. He hit a long out to the left field wall with 2 runners on base that was caught by Kevin Pillar, as the Mets held serve and split the doubleheader. New York now leads Philadelphia by 3.5 games and Atlanta by 5 games in the NL East. The bullpen came up big with help on the way!