As much as it pains me to say, the NY Mets were the better team last week/end when the Braves and Mets played 5 games over 4 days.
I felt pretty good about the Braves' chances going into the long series against the our divisional rival (?), even after losing the first game of the series Thursday night. The following night felt even better as the Braves' offense came to life in the first inning giving starting pitcher Ian Anderson more than enough run support to shake off any jitters he may have had. Credit to the Mets though as they didn't give up and made a nice push towards the end of the game to turn a blow out into a two run game.
I knew the Mets meant business and they proceeded to show that with a sweep on Saturday. Ugh. That divisional lead they had just kept growing and growing, adding another game between the two teams with another win on Sunday.
Despite what NY Mets fans may think, the season isn't over. As horrible as the Braves played, their season isn't over and winning the Division again isn't out of the question, but last week/end sure didn't help either.
I'll give credit where credit is due. This Mets have a good team. This isn't the 2021 team so anyone waiting for an "evitable Mets collapse" may be waiting for awhile. The Mets are built different than the Braves. They are able to play "small ball". put the ball into play more than a lot of the other teams in the league. Despite the Braves' normal stellar defense, when you put the ball into play anything can happen. We say that last week in New York. Call it luck, call it whatever you want, the Mets put the ball into play, the Braves made some errors and the Mets got on base and some scored. That's how the cookie crumbles. I do have to mention however that some Mets fans I saw posting online after the weekend were...well finally glad they were winning after Chipper Jones owned them?! I saw one fan say they were happy with a 4 1/2 game lead. "Happy"? Others made fun of pitcher Max Fried's hard fall to the ground on a hustle play. Did I expect anything else from their fan base? Nope.
The Braves however are a different team and score in a different way. Sometimes I feel like its a "feast or famine" approach. When their bats are alive, the ball is jumping out of the stadium. We saw that this past Friday night. However if the ball lands on the warning track instead of the stands, it's rough to watch sometimes. They just have a hard time manufacturing runs. Ronald Acuna hasn't been himself. Ozzie Albies is gone. We've got a different beau at first base. This isn't your 2021 Braves...but I'm not counting them out!
There are still a lot of things to like about this team and I will remain optimistic that they can still catch and surpass the Mets. It won't be easy...the Braves I'm told have the second hardest schedule over the remaining 50 odd games. It starts tonight in Boston against a struggling Red Sox team...which they can't overlook. Both the Phillies and Padres are on their heels for one of those Wild Card spots. I *think* I'm ready for the ride. I was nice having last night "off" however and I hope the team got their needed rest because if they want to have a chance of repeating as World Series champs, it's go time!
