Braves miss opportunity, fall to Mets
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves never have much margin for error.
Leaving the bases loaded in the fourth inning ruined their best chance to keep the game close in a 10-3 loss to the New York Mets on Sunday.
“That was tough, and we had two four-run innings against us,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. “That didn’t help either.”
Atlanta dropped to 23-46 at home this season, worst in the major leagues.
Yoenis Cespedes hit a grand slam and Seth Lugo won his fourth straight start for New York.
The Mets have won seven of eight and are 16-5 since Aug. 20. St. Louis’ 2-1 loss to Milwaukee moved New York one-half game ahead of the Cardinals for the second NL wildcard spot.
Lugo (4-2) allowed six hits, two runs and one walk and struck out five in seven innings. He is 3-1 with a 1.99 ERA in five career starts after joining the rotation Aug. 19.
The Braves cut the lead to 6-1 in the fourth on Freddie Freeman’s RBI single, but they left the bases loaded when Lugo got Anthony Recker to pop up and Dansby Swanson grounded into a double play.
“He didn’t have a ton of trouble out there,” Recker said of Lugo. “That one inning we really had a chance, and we let that one slip away.”
Freeman has reached safely in a career-high 33 straight games. He has hit safely in 28 of his last 29 games since Aug. 1 and is hitting .362 over that span.
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. Perez left the game with right triceps impingement.
Cespedes’ 30th homer, which cleared the bases in the third, was his second grand slam this season. He has four in his career.
“If he’s going to get hot, this is a good time,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “This is a big stretch for us.”
James Loney homered to make it 6-0 in the fourth. Kelly Johnson and Alejandro De Aza had RBI singles, Loney an RBI double and Lugo a sacrifice fly for a 10-1 lead in the fifth.
New York led 1-0 in the first when Asdrubal Cabrera tripled and scored on a groundout by Cespedes, who is hitting .308 with eight homers and 19 RBIs since Aug. 19.
Brandon Snyder cut the lead to 10-2 in the seventh with his third career pinch-hit homer.
With the Braves moving to a new ballpark next year, the Mets went 67-106 in 20 years at Turner Field, but New York won 11 of its final 14 at the former stadium of the 1996 Olympics.
Before the game, players and coaches stood along the baselines before the game as the Braves held a 13-minute ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. A massive flag was held across the outfield while the team played a video commemorating the attacks and the Braves-Mets game on Sept. 21, 2001, at Shea Stadium — the first major sporting event held in New York after 9/11.