Michael Harris II slammed a tiebreaking, two-run homer to straightaway center field in the eighth inning, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 7-5 win over the visiting New York Mets on Wednesday.
The Braves extended their winning streak to four games while sending the Mets to their season-worst fifth loss in a row.
Harris, last year’s National League Rookie of the Year, emerged from a slump to go 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. The go-ahead homer, his third long ball of the year, came against New York reliever Adam Ottavino and traveled 443 feet.
The winning pitcher was Nick Anderson (4-0), who tossed a scoreless eighth. A.J. Minter earned his eighth save with a perfect ninth. Brooks Raley (1-1), who allowed a double to Marcell Ozuna ahead of the Harris homer, was charged with the loss.
The Mets’ lineup took a blow in the first inning when Pete Alonso, the major league leader in home runs, had to leave the game after being hit in the left wrist by a Charlie Morton pitch. X-rays were negative, and Alonso is listed as day-to-day.
Morton lasted only 4 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs on four hits — two of them home runs — while walking four and striking out five.
New York starter Max Scherzer began with three scoreless innings, but he was knocked out in the sixth. In 5 2/3 innings, he gave up five runs on 11 hits. Scherzer struck out 10 without issuing a walk.
The Mets scored a run in the first inning on Brett Baty’s RBI single and made it 2-0 in the second on a solo homer from Francisco Alvarez, his ninth.
The Braves scratched out a run in the fourth. Austin Riley led off with a sharp single. With two outs, Atlanta got three infield hits, the last one an RBI single by Orlando Arcia.
The Mets went ahead 4-1 in the fifth when Tommy Pham, who replaced Alonso in the lineup, hit a two-run homer, his sixth.
The Braves got a two-run homer from Sean Murphy, his 12th, in the fifth and took the lead in the sixth on an RBI double from Harris and a run-scoring single from Ronald Acuna Jr.
New York tied the game 5-5 on Pham’s sacrifice fly in the seventh.
–Field Level Media
