A nightmarish sixth inning that saw the Mets (18-9) yield seven runs while facing 11 batters in total derailed New York’s series finale of a four-game set to the Atlanta Braves (12-15) in a 9-2 loss Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field.
Starting pitcher Tylor Megill was docked with three runs in 5.1 innings pitched to take a tough loss given his performance for the majority of the day, headlined by nine strikeouts while allowing just four hits. But it was reliever Adam Ottavino, working on a third-straight day, who inherited each of those three runners in a bases-loaded jam and immediately unraveled by allowing a walk and two hits to send Atlanta on its way.
The win allowed the Braves to split the series at two wins apiece, ensuring the Mets’ seven series win streak to start the season — which was tied for the third-longest such streak in franchise history — was snapped in ugly fashion.
After pitching the first five innings of the Mets’ second-ever no-hitter on Friday night against the Philadelphia Phillies, Megill went the first four innings on Wednesday without allowing a hit, bringing his no-hit streak to nine straight innings and 27 outs.
It came undone in the fifth inning when Adam Duvall ripped a clean single to left to get the Braves cooking. But Megill would work his way out of a jam, getting both Guillermo Heredia and Ronald Acuna Jr. swinging to escape the frame.
Trouble came right back in the sixth, though, as an infield hit by Austin Riley was followed by singles from Marcell Ozuna and Ozzie Albies to load the bases with one out, chasing Megill from the game.
Adam Ottavino yielded the first run of the game when he walked d’Arnaud on five pitches before Adam Duvall ripped a two-run double down the left-field line to put the Braves up three.
With Dansby Swanson up, a wild pitch that squeaked past the glove of catcher James McCann plated d’Arnaud for Atlanta’s fourth run of the inning before the Braves’ shortstop looped a single to center to make it 5-0 — and that was all for Ottavino.
Trevor Williams couldn’t stop the bleeding, either. He walked Heredia before Acuna went the other way with a single to right, scoring Swanson from second.
Matt Olson rocketed a grounder to Pete Alonso that the first baseman was able to knock down and step on first, but they flubbed the run down involving Acuna between first and second, allowing the star to advance a base and another run — the final run of the inning — to score.
Heredia, who had robbed Jeff McNeil of an extra-base hit with a leaping catch at the right-field wall, capped off his big day with a two-run home run in the eighth inning off Williams.
Luis Guillorme snuck his first home run of the season just inside the right-field foul pole in the ninth inning, adding on to the Mets’ only other run, which came in the sixth inning on an Eduardo Escobar RBI double.
