Mets Blasted By Braves, 14-3, As Manaea Fails Big

The New York Mets continued their losing ways last night as the Atlanta Braves pounded out six runs in the first four innings off starter Sean Manaea, then went on to win a 14-3 laugher in the second game of the four-game series. The Mets have been trying to sell Manaea as a starter who’s been rejuvenated by a stint in the bullpen and a little extra velocity, but the Braves weren’t buying. They hit two home runs off Manaea and banged out six hits, with the solo homers coming from Eli White and Mauricio Dubon, and when the dust settled after the fourth inning Atlanta had a 6-0 led.

The Mets did offer some resistance after that, though, as the cut the Braves lead in half with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Tyrone Taylor and Mark Vientos showed that the Mets can play the home run game, too, with Taylor delivering a solo shot to start the scoring and Vientos following up with a two-run bomb off Atlanta starter Chris Sale. Their comeback effort was short-lived, however.

Austin Warren came on in relief of Manaea in the sixth, and the Braves hammered him for four more runs in the sixth and seventh to put the game away. The key hits were an RBI double by Joey Bart and another home run, this one a two-run bomb from Mike Yastremzski. That sealed the deal, but the Braves kept hitting to provide more fireworks for the the fourth of July crowd.

The barrage included two more homers, one by Austin Riley and another from Michael Harris II, and by the end of the night it was catcher Luis Torrens and his ERA of 27.00 on the mound. Interim manager Andy Green flipped the lineup to try to get some extra offense as he moved Francisco Lindor back up to the leader off spot with Juan Soto hitting behind him.

The move brought back plenty of memories to go with the three singles from the two superstars, but the Mets were shut out for the final four innings by two Atlanta relievers. JR Ritchie took advantage of that weird corner of the save rule that says you get a save if you p