HRs send Mets to 6th straight loss
ATLANTA -- The Mets weren't happy about having to play their second doubleheader in the span of 72 hours, but when they showed up Saturday, manager Terry Collins tried to make the best of a bad situation.
"It's a taxing thing on our guys," Collins said, "but they're up for it."
The first game, however, was a downer as the Mets stumbled to the Braves, 4-2, at Turner Field. Emergency starter D.J. Carrasco allowed three solo homers -- two to Alex Gonzalez, one to Chipper Jones -- and Freddie Freeman also took Pat Misch deep to hand the Mets their sixth straight loss.
Misch, recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday, retired five of six after entering the game in the fifth inning. But in the sixth, Misch apparently got Freeman a little too riled up. Trying to keep the Mets within 3-2, Misch rifled a 1-and-2 fastball up around Freeman's face. The pitch knocked Freeman backward. But when Misch then tried to catch him off-balance with a curveball, he hung it, and Freeman drilled a home run that touched down about 10 rows deep in the rightfield bleachers to give the Braves some breathing room at 4-2.
The Mets rallied from a 3-0 deficit to close to 3-2 in the sixth inning on Willie Harris' RBI double. Carlos Beltran drew a one-out walk, and after Ike Davis took a questionable called third strike, Harris launched a deep fly ball to the gap in left-center. Martin Prado dribbled the ball, which allowed Harris to take third on the error, but Brad Emaus (0-for-4) blew his shot at tying the score by popping up to second base.
Thursday's doubleheader at Citi Field, combined with Friday's rainout in Atlanta, forced Collins to use Carrasco as an emergency starter for Game 1. Collins hoped to squeeze five innings from Carrasco -- roughly 80 pitches -- and the converted reliever reached 86 by the time he was removed after 32/3 innings.
Jones personally welcomed Carrasco to the Mets by taking him over the leftfield wall in the first with two out and no one on base. It was Jones' 45th career homer against the Mets, tying him with Hank Aaron. Only Willie Stargell (60), Mike Schmidt (49) and Willie McCovey (48) have gone deep more times against them.
Gonzalez homered in his first two at-bats against Carrasco and now has 16 against the Mets, the highest total for him against any team. Gonzalez's home run with two outs in the fourth inning signaled that the end was near for Carrasco, who walked the next two batters before Ryota Igarashi replaced him.
When Igarashi escaped by getting Martin Prado on a flyout to centerfield, the momentum appeared to shift in the Mets' favor. In the fifth inning, back-to-back singles by Josh Thole and pinch hitter Scott Hairston put runners at first and third for Jose Reyes. Instead of a big rally, however, the Mets had to settle for one run when Reyes beat out a potential double-play grounder.
