ATLANTA — The Mets finished with four hits and mishandled four Braves batted balls.
Such a ratio is rarely conducive to winning.
On a night the Mets did little right, their defense was particularly poor in a disappointing and series-opening 5-1 loss to the Braves at Truist Park on Tuesday.
“We didn’t play well,” Carlos Mendoza acknowledged after the Mets generously were charged with just one error. “We didn’t make a play a couple times.”
The Mets’ problems began in the first and never really stopped.
The second Atlanta batter of the game, Ozzie Albies, shot a ground ball at Luisangel Acuña that should have been a double play. But Acuna fumbled it and only got the out at second base.
The misplay did not cost them a run but did cost Luis Severino an extra eight pitches, having to face Matt Olson and Jorge Soler after the would-be third out was made.
Two innings later, the mistakes began showing up on the scoreboard. The bottom of the third began with a swinging bunt from Orlando Arcia that was well-placed down the third-base line. The ball was equidistant from Severino and Francisco Alvarez, both of whom gave chase.
“I said, ‘I got it, I got it,’ ” Severino said, “and I think he didn’t hear me.”
Severino reached it first and, like a quarterback absorbing the rush, stood and threw to first while Alvarez brushed into him. Severino pulled the throw, bouncing it into left field and allowing Arcia to reach second base.
Mets’ loss. Getty Images
Mendoza said the ball was in “no-man’s land.”
“It’s going to be a tough play for Sevy. It’s going to be a tough play for Alvy,” Mendoza said of the lone error. “We just didn’t get it done. They didn’t make the play, and that kind of got them going.”
Michael Harris II followed with an RBI double to put the Mets in a hole they never escaped. Albies then bounced a single into right field that Starling Marte fielded without a chance at an out at home.
Yet Marte skipped the cutoff man, reaching Alvarez with a too-late heave that enabled Albies to take second base. That hurt when Ramon Laureano snuck a single through the right side for a third Braves run.
The final miscue arrived in the sixth inning of a game in which the Mets never seemed to find a pulse.
Former Yankee Gio Urshela sent a one-out, sinking liner into left field, and Brandon Nimmo said he thought he had a “50-50 shot” at making the catch.
He sprinted in, elected against a risky dive and tried to knock it down with his body.
Instead, it one-hopped into him and off of him, ricocheting behind and allowing Urshela to advance to second base.
“It was hit really, really well and top-spun,” Nimmo said. “One of those plays that’s kind of tough in left field. You get caught in between on those.”
On a night the Mets did not hit, their fielding left them no chance.
