Game #95: Braves 2, Mets 1

From a six-inning no-hitter to no hit when they needed it most.

John Buck's critical passed ball led the way for two Atlanta runs off Bobby Parnell, and the Mets' chance at a comeback was snuffed out by Jason Heyward in the 2-1 loss.

The Bad Stuff:

• Things were looking so good through eight innings. Then Bobby Parnell came on and did his best K-Rod/Frank-Frank impression. Brian McCann singled through the shift and Evan Gattis blooped a single in front of Marlon Byrd. After David Wright forced the lead runner at third, John Buck let a fastball go through his glove, and both runners advanced. That led to Chris Johnson's game-tying RBI groundout and Reed Johnson's go-ahead single, and all of a sudden a 1-0 Mets lead was a 2-1 Mets deficit.
• The bottom of the 9th got interesting as New York did its best to get to Craig Kimbrel. Buck was hit by a pitch and Omar Quintanilla drew a 10-pitch walk with two outs. That brought up Justin Turner, fresh off the DL, and Le Grande Orange came this close to delivering himself his own pie with a bloop shot to left center. But Jason Heyward laid out for a spectacular diving catch, putting it in the books for the Braves.
• David Wright and Marlon Byrd stranded two men on base each in the 8th inning, two of the eight men the Mets left in scoring position in the game.

The Good Stuff:

• Dillon Gee's spectacular efforts went to waste, as he took a no-hitter into the 7th and finished matching Matt Harvey's start from yesterday, tossing seven shutout innings. After loading the bases with one out, Gee got Johnson to ground into the force at home, then followed that up with a three-pitch strikeout of pinch-hitter Joey Terdoslavich (the best Braves name since Tim Spooneybarger of 10 years ago).
• Byrd took advantage of poor fielding by Justin Upton in right by running out a triple in the 4th inning, and Ike Davis singled him home on the next pitch for New York's lone run.
• Davis went 2-4 with a double and RBI; his third at-bat was a very hard groundout to first, and in his last he took a typically nasty pitch from Craig Kimbrel for the backwards K.
• Eric Young didn't get a hit but reached base on a fielder's choice in the 8th and promptly stole both second and third.

Final Analysis:
Dillon Gee more than deserved that win tonight. Unfortunately he was dealt a dead battery in the 9th, as this one falls on both Bobby Parnell and John Buck. For shame - aside from that, this was a really fun game to watch. But serious props to Jason Heyward for making that catch: he comes up a foot short and it's a walk-off double for Turner. Bad luck for the home team.

MM