Game #138: Braves 3, Mets 0

It wasn't Larry who killed the Mets on this night; no, the old timer went hitless in four at-bats. Other Braves, on the other hand, fared just a little better tonight at Citi Field.

Atlanta's 6-7-8 hitters combined to drive in all the runs and Jon Niese got absolutely no run support as the Mets dropped the first game of Chipper Jones's swansong in New York, 3-0.

The Bad Stuff:

• Let's cut right to the chase: 5 hits, 0-10 with RISP, 11 left on. I think that paints a vivid enough picture for tonight.

The Good Stuff:

• Jon Niese picked up a tough L on the night, only allowing a solo home run to Jason Heyward in the 4th inning. Niese finished the night with just that 1 run on 5 hits in 6 innings, including 1 walk and 2 strikeouts in exactly 100 pitches.
• Jenrry Mejia returned to the major leagues after a misconstrued half-season in Flushing and tossed 2 innings in relief, his only mistake being a curveball that didn't curve which Dan Uggla blasted for a home run in the 9th.

Final Analysis:
Once it got out of the hands of Paul Maholm in the 6th (and he pitched a heck of a game as well) and into those of the rock-solid Atlanta bullpen, you could have called it right then and nobody would've missed anything. The Mets couldn't get any hits after Maholm made his exit and could barely get any when the Braves' starter was in there in the first place. It was as if the team left their bats in St. Louis; a tough, tough way to start a homestand. All that can be hoped for is that the team's bats get into LaGuardia early tomorrow; it's an afternoon game.

MM