Ups & downs
amazin’S nip braves in 11 conforto demoted
ATLANTA — Jacob deGrom’s best performance of 2016 should have been enough to yield his first win in nearly two months Saturday.
But finally removing Michael Conforto from the scene and sending him to Triple-A Las Vegas for a tuneup wasn’t enough to get this lineup rolling against a pitcher as talented as Julio Teheran.
It took an appearance from ex-Mets reliever Dario Alvarez and former Braves utility man Kelly Johnson to finally break the scoreless deadlock. Johnson’s homer against Alvarez in
the 11th inning pro- duced the only run in the Mets’ 1-0 victory at Turner Field to move them within two games of the NL Eastleading Nationals.
“Any time you are playing against a former team, you come in here and have a little extra pep in your step,” said Johnson, who has played for the Braves over three different tenures.
Jeurys Familia got the final three outs for his 26th save in as many chances this season but not without drama. The Mets closer got Nick Markakis to hit into a game-ending double play — with Familia fielding the comebacker — after manager Terry Collins elected to intentionally walk the go-ahead run, Mets killer Freddie Freeman.
“I just had enough of Freddie,” Collins said.
The Mets were lucky to survive, given their lack of punch offensively and a big gaffe on the base paths.
Alejandro De Aza’s stock couldn’t be much lower after his brain cramp in the 10th helped kill the inning. With Wilmer Flores on first base, De Aza popped up a bunt that pitcher Jim Johnson let drop to turn into a double play. De Aza had fired his bat in disgust and didn’t immediately run on the play, allowing the Braves to turn two.
After watching Steven Matz falter in the fifth inning the previous night — after Matt Harvey’s mediocre performance Thursday — the Mets certainly couldn’t complain about deGrom’s eight shutout innings.
But despite his best outing of the season, deGrom remained winless since beating the Giants on April 30.
“[Teheran] is having a great year, and watching what he does out there is impressive,” deGrom said. “I was just glad I kept it 0-0 and we had a chance to get to the pen, and Kelly came up big for us.”
Teheran had retired 15 straight batters before Curtis Granderson singled and stole second with two outs in the eighth. But Asdrubal Cabrera struck out to keep the game scoreless, virtually ensuring deGrom would go without the win.
DeGrom faced his stiffest competition in the sixth, when the Braves loaded the bases on three singles before Adonis Garcia was retired to end the threat. Freeman struck out against deGrom after the Braves had put two runners aboard with one out.
“I think deGrom is starting to come into shape a little bit better,” Collins said. “We’ve got to hang in there so when we come out of the [All-Star] break, our pitching staff is ready to roll.”
Teheran, who fired a one-hit shutout against the Mets last Sunday at Citi Field, had another superb start for the Braves. In this one, he allowed five hits over eight shutout innings and struck out seven. The Mets haven’t scored in their last 24 innings against Teheran.
DeGrom received plenty of help from his defense early to escape potential trouble, as the Mets turned double plays to conclude the second, third and fourth innings.
“Our defense was really good behind me tonight,” deGrom said. “There were a lot of good plays behind me.”