Laura Albanese: Near-collapse vs. Atlanta shows that even on their good days, Mets make winning look tough
Mets pitcher Huascar Brazobán walks off the mound after replaced during the ninth inning of a game against Atlanta on Sunday in Atlanta. Credit: AP/Erik S. Lesser
ATLANTA — On its surface, Sunday was a good afternoon for the Mets. They stole a game from the Beast of the NL East, scored in double digits, had Nolan McLean pitch into the seventh inning and saw A.J. Ewing homer against a tough lefthander.
And yet . . .
That’s the type of season it’s been for these Mets. Even their 10-9 win over Atlanta at Truist Park on Sunday felt like some sort of cosmic test of endurance. But to endure the untenable, you have to do what Andy Green did after watching his team nearly decay under the weight of its own accumulated misfortune — look at the good.
“These guys want to win baseball games,” Green said. “They’re passionate about winning baseball games. They just won a baseball game. It was good to see the offense on both sides of the game — five runs at the beginning, five runs at the end, put 10 runs on the board. There’s a lot of good things to take out of this game and we’re going to take the good out of it.”
That’s certainly a fair take from the Mets’ interim manager. There have been so few bright spots this year that this team needs to hold on to each and every one of them. But it also is easy to see how they got here: They give away too many outs, pitchers need to work harder and even late seven-run leads aren’t safe.
The Mets (37-53) scored five runs in the ninth to go up 10-3 before Huascar Brazoban gave up five runs in one-third of an inning, capped by Drake Baldwin’s first career grand slam. Devin Williams allowed three hits and a sixth run and threw a wild pitch but recorded two outs for his 13th save.
Along the way, the defense did everything in its power to give Atlanta (52-36) the victory.
In the first, McLean’s pickoff throw hit the dirt for an error, eventually leading to a run. In the fifth, Mark Vientos reared back on Jim Jarvis’ chopper, attempting to make the play at first base on the backhand and instead fell to the dirt as the ball bounced off his glove.
And as they say, defense, like offense, is contagious. And so, as Brazoban labored in the ninth, Dominic Smith singled off Brett Baty’s glove. Then it was Brazoban’s turn to commit an error, as his errant pickoff throw allowed a run to score, and after a single and a walk, Baldwin’s grand slam made it 10-8.
No worries, though: The Mets still had a lead, no one on base and a well-rested Williams coming out of the bullpen.
Except this year, it’s all worries. Williams struck out Ozzie Albies for the second out, allowed a double by Matt Olson and then appeared to get a game-ending groundout to first base — except he stutter-stepped on his way to cover the bag, allowing the ninth run to score and Michael Harris II to reach base. Atlanta had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position before Williams struck out Smith to end it.
It felt apt, really, that although the Mets showcased their full offensive firepower, this rare win was endured rather than fully enjoyed — at least from the outside looking in.
But if we’re going to accept that 2026 is a lost season and look toward this franchise’s future, you can focus on the two biggest positives. After a rocky first inning in which he gave up three runs (two earned), McLean adapted, putting together his second strong start in a row and third in four tries. He allowed only those three runs, five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in six innings-plus and was able to find his changeup as the game progressed.
“I feel like I had some pretty good stuff there in the first and just some unfortunate things happening,” he said. “Ground-ball base hits are never fun when I’m a ground-ball pitcher usually. It’s always good when those can find gloves . . . I mean, I’m satisfied [with the start]. Obviously, we’ll take the wins any time I can get them.”
And then there’s Ewing, who batted seventh Sunday but has been entrusted with the leadoff role against righthanded pitchers. But against a tough lefty with a deceptive delivery in Martin Perez, he lasered a sinker in on the hands 408 feet to center for his fifth homer of the year, drawing the Mets to within 3-2 in the second inning.
“I think I’ve always been comfortable against lefties,” Ewing said. Perez “has good stuff, so I’m just staying with an approach.”
And in the end, the Mets were able to string together those 10 runs and record 12 hits. “I think everyone in this locker room knows that that’s the offensive capability that we have,’’ Ewing said. “It’s cool to see that show up.”
The boxscore also will note that they had three errors, but we’ll save that for another day. The wins are few and far between, and if the Mets are going to endure this season — and potentially build something worthwhile in years to come — the negative rumination can wait (at least until the next loss).
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
