• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024
(Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

By Keith Harrison

The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves were in action again Wednesday night for game 2 of their 3 game series. The Mets sent prized young pitcher Zack Wheeler to the mound. Making his debut for the Braves was Ervin Santana who pitched for the Kansas City Royals last season.

The Braves get off to an early 1-0 lead when Jason Heyward leads off the bottom of the 1st with a solo home run to right field. Wheeler would then settle down and pitch nicely, getting into a groove until the 5th inning.

Bottom of the 5th inning, Evan Gattis leads off with a double to left field. Jordan Schafer strikes out swinging. Ervin Santana helps out his own cause with a single to right, Gattis to third. Jason Heyward keeps the rally going with a single to right, Gattis scores, Santana to second. Braves lead 2-0. Andrelton Simmons follows that up with a single of his own to left. Bases loaded, Santana on third, Heyward on second, Simmons on first. Freddie Freeman wants in on this rally, he singles to left as well. Santana and Heyward score, Simmons to second. Braves lead 4-0. The game would be pretty quiet after that until the 9th inning.

Ervin Santana was phenomenal in this game. He would finish with 8 shutout innings of 3-hit baseball. Maybe most impressive was the fact that he accomplished this on only 88 pitches, 65 of which were strikes. He struck out 6 and walked none. Quite an Atlanta Braves debut for Ervin Santana.

Top of the 9th, Jordan Walden on in relief for the Braves. Eric Young Jr. leads off the inning with a walk. Daniel Murphy is up next, he strikes out swinging. The Captain David Wright comes to the plate, he singles to left, Eric Young Jr. to second. Craig Kimbrel is on in relief for Walden. Kimbrel is the best closer in baseball and he’s already got 1 out, this game is over right? Wrong! He immediately walks Curtis Granderson to load the bases. Lucas Duda is up next with an opportunity to rival Ike Davis with a 9th inning grand slam of his own. Duda fails to answer the bell, he strikes out swinging. Juan Lagares is up with the Mets down to their final out. Lagares continues to produce for the Mets, he singles up the middle. Eric Young Jr. and David Wright score, Granderson to third. Mets cut the lead to 4-2. Travis d’Arnaud is up next with an opportunity to get the fans off his back here with a clutch hit. He delivers and singles to right field, Granderson scores, Lagares goes first to third. Mets cut the lead to 4-3. Ruben Tejada at the plate with an opportunity to tie the game. If he drives in this run everything is forgiven in my book! However Tejada gets behind 0-2 early and ultimately strikes out swinging. Braves hold on to win by a final score of 4-3.

The Mets fell short by a run but it sure was encouraging to see them put together a 9th inning rally against the best closer in baseball. Kimbrel had not allowed a base runner in his first three appearances of the season.

The Mets and Braves meet again Thursday night for the rubber match of the series. Jenrry Mejia will be pitching for the Mets, David Hale on the mound for the Braves.

Keith Harrison : PureSportsNY

By Vernon McKenzie

Graduate of New Institute Of Technology with a BA in Communications with a focus on Television Radio. Owner and Executive Producer of PureSportsNY

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