Can Atlanta Braves catch up to New York Mets in NL East?

By Deesha Thosar
FOX Sports MLB Writer

NEW YORK — Indeed, some Braves fans were thankful for the rain, even hopeful that the game would be postponed entirely so that Atlanta wouldn’t have to face Jacob deGrom and the Mets in the series finale at Citi Field.

Then the clouds parted, the sun shined, and the Mets’ ace made a lethal Braves offense, one that is third in baseball in slugging percentage (.440), look like the Low-A Augusta GreenJackets for most of Sunday afternoon. DeGrom, as it turned out, carried a perfect game into the sixth inning in his first time starting at home in 396 days.

As SNY broadcaster Keith Hernandez aptly said of the magnitude of deGrom’s dominance, it felt like we were watching an “Olympian God” pitching on the mound.

Dansby Swanson was the only Atlanta batter to get a hit off deGrom, crushing a two-run home run to the visitors bullpen at Citi Field. DeGrom, on a pitch limit in his second start of the season, exited in the sixth. But there was always closer Edwin Diaz looming, which gave the Braves just about six outs to work with to try to salvage the series and trim the Mets’ growing first-place lead in the NL East. 

Ronald Acuña Jr. wasn’t even in the lineup in a critical series finale against the team with the second-best record in the National League. He was a late scratch, due to what the Braves called “lower body soreness.” In the same breath Braves manager Brian Snitker said he didn’t want Acuña taking any chances on the wet turf. Thus, Atlanta went down quietly, losing four out of five to the Mets, and in doing so, the Braves showed their fans why catching up to the NL East leaders seems less realistic this season.

By the time the Braves skulked out of Flushing on Sunday night, they had dropped from 3.5 to 6.5 games behind the Mets.

“This year, the Mets have no holes,” Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud told FOX Sports on Friday. “They pitch. Their bullpen is strong. They have good infield defense, good outfield defense, good catching defense. They can run the bases. They put tough at-bats together. They hit for average, they hit for power. Smart at-bats with runners in scoring position.

“They’re very well-coached over there. They’re a good team.”

Making matters more difficult for the Braves is the unknown longevity of Acuña, who was beginning to heat up this past weekend in New York, only to miss Sunday’s matchup against deGrom. On Thursday, the two-time Silver Slugger snapped an 18-game homerless streak, the second-longest of his career, then collected four hits Friday.

But he also told reporters that his surgically repaired knee — Acuña tore his ACL before the 2021 All-Star break — doesn’t always feel durable. Some days are better than others, he said, but largely, it doesn’t feel the same.

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The Braves “have the potential to have one of the best outfields in the league,” as Acuña said Saturday, but that potential rests on his ability to remain on the field and stay consistent. His presence at the plate on Sunday might not have made much of a difference against the well-rested, ready-to-let-loose deGrom. His absence sent the message that the Braves’ attempt to catch the Mets and trim their own second-place deficit seems like a long shot. 

“I think it’s going to be tough,” Brandon Nimmo said, crunching the numbers, of whether Atlanta can repeat 2021 and snatch first place from New York. “Winning four out of five and only having seven [games] left [against them] doesn’t leave them a whole lot of room. What are they? Six-and-a-half back now? So it doesn’t leave them a whole lot of room for catching us — by beating us. And we think we’re a tough team to beat. So as long as we take care of business … it makes it a tough road [for them].”

Watching the Braves (64-46) operate following a series loss to the Mets (70-39) is hardly a scene of doom and gloom. They were impervious to Mets fans taunting them with the tomahawk chop in the late innings Sunday at Citi Field. They were unfazed by the gap between first place widening. They were already looking ahead to the next battle, a four-game Mets-Braves series set to take place next week in Atlanta. 

Rookie right-hander Spencer Strider, Sunday’s Braves starter who gave up four earned runs and lasted just 2.2 innings en route to his fourth loss of the season, was confident that the Mets tacked on six hits against him due to luck. 

“A lot of weird hits,” Strider said. “They seem to be having a lot of luck right now offensively. That’s great. It’s August. See what things are like in October.”

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But there was some recognition, even the tiniest bit, that maybe Atlanta’s path to the playoffs won’t be nearly as straightforward as last year’s, and perhaps that path won’t involve clinching the NL East, like the Braves have done since 2018. 

“We obviously didn’t play well in all phases of the game,” Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson told reporters. “Offensively, I didn’t think we had a lot of consistent at-bats. Defensively, there were a lot of miscues, not just errors, but with free passes and giving up extra bases. The pitching was inefficient with pitch counts and stuff of that nature.”

“They’re a tough team,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley added. “It’s going to be a challenge for us to catch them. But anything can happen.”

Sure, anything can happen, including the Mets potentially rolling to their first playoff appearance since 2016 with the confidence that the Braves, the reigning world champions, never caught them.

At this time last year, the Braves were in the process of snatching the Mets’ first-place lead, a standing they held for 91 days. The Mets were without Francisco Lindor, who was nursing an oblique strain, without deGrom, who would miss the second half of the season due to elbow issues, and without Max Scherzer and Starling Marte, who were acquired in the subsequent offseason. The 2022 Mets have shown no signs of the collapse that allowed the Braves to overtake their lead for good on Aug. 13, 2021. 

This year, the Buck Showalter-led Mets are relentless. Their lineup works opposing pitchers early — the Mets lead the majors in pitches seen in the first inning. They’re taking care of business in the division. Since May 27, New York has gone 24-7 in the NL East and outscored divisional opponents 265-168. And they’re only getting better. Thanks in part to the trade-deadline pickup of slugger Daniel Vogelbach, the Mets lead the majors in batting average (.298), are second in on-base percentage (.364) and rank third in slugging (.480) since the All-Star break.

Division winners are not decided in August. Just take it from Showalter, who said the only statement is trying to be the last team standing when it’s all over. Still, the Braves had very little to feel good about when the Mets took four out of five from them this weekend.

Atlanta is eager to bring the matchup home to Truist Park, but it will face a Mets team that has shown no signs of becoming complacent. However the next seven games between the Braves and Mets shake out, one team has already demonstrated that it is playing better, more complete baseball, than the other.

“You gotta keep a level of intensity, and that’s very hard to do,” Showalter said of how the Mets can sustain their edge. “I think they brought a level of intensity. It’s given me peace just knowing that these guys get it and what it requires to finish it off.”

Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets for three-and-a-half seasons as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. She never misses a Rafael Nadal match, no matter what country or time zone he’s playing in. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.