There was no comeback Saturday night.
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The Mets and Atlanta Braves paid tribute to the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks prior to facing off in Sunday’s series finale at Turner Field.
Cespedes is hitting.308 with eight HR and 19 RBI since returning from the disabled list on August 19, during which the Mets are 15-5.
While Lugo had a comfortable lead to work for most of the afternoon, the rookie showed poise by preventing the Braves from getting back in the game in the fourth inning. They moved one-half game ahead of the Cardinals for the second NL wild-card spot. Swanson, who had a fourth straight multi-hit game, singled leading off the 10th inning against Erik Goeddel (1-1). The Mets, in their final ever game at Turner Field, sent the former Olympic Stadium out in style.
After Goeddel struck out pinch-hitter Tyler Flowers, Ty Kelly replaced center fielder Curtis Granderson in the field to give the Mets five infielders and Josh Smoker retired Ender Inciarte on a popup. Cespedes scored on Jay Bruce’s RBI grounder.
The Mets had really not been sharp all night.
Cespedes drove in the game’s first five runs off Williams Perez (2-3), who gave up four hits, five runs and one walk and struck out two in 2 2/3 innings.
The Braves tried three times to turn double plays and it resulted in two errors. Cabrera had three hits and scored three runs Sunday.
The Mets had a chance to grab the lead in the eighth, when Wilmer Flores delivered a two out double against lefty Ian Krol.
Flores was shaken up after he attempted to slide into home head first, his shoulder and neck colliding directly with A.J. Pierzynski’s shin guard. Christian Yelich had two hits and drove in a run for the Marlins, who have won three of four. The 26-year-old held Washington to one run on six hits with four strikeouts in seven innings September 4, and has surrendered only three runs on 13 hits in 18 innings during his winning streak.
But as he has done for the past three seasons, Colon found a way to get through. They won eight straight from April 22-30. Since 2014, when he first joined the Mets, Colon has racked up 42 wins and thrown 567 innings. Colon moved up one day in the rotation to take Lugo’s spot. He made two appearances out of the ‘pen in the regular season and seven out of the ‘pen in the playoffs.
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While he speaks limited English even among his teammates, he has had an influence on every pitcher on the roster. I went to him to try to get him out, and he said, ‘No, I want to stay in.’ That tells you he’s laying it on the line. Hard to bet against the Mets with the way they’re playing right now. The team is starting to beat up on bad teams after struggling to do so earlier in this year, and is already 5-1 on this road trip against two of baseball’s worst teams in Atlanta and Cincinnati.
