After losing four straight, the Braves have won five in a row. Sean Newcomb’s near-no-hitter awarded them the finale against the Dodgers. They beat Miami twice before the third game was rained out. They’ve taken care of business so far in New York, with a vital four-game series in Washington looming. Similar to Thursday night, the youngers showed out on America’s biggest stage. Johan Camargo’s solo homer off deGrom opened the scoring in the second. His two-RBI double won the game Thursday. Leadoff man Ronald Acuna had another multi-hit effort. He doubled with two down in the fifth, then Ozzie Albies’ own two-bagger provided the go-ahead run. “That’s been the catalyst for (the Braves),” Mets reliever Jerry Blevins said. “You’ve got Freddie Freeman and (Nick) Markakis right in the middle, two of the best left-handed hitters in the game. … But to see Acuna and Albies step up, it adds depth to an already deep lineup. They’re exciting and fun to watch – and a pain in the butt as an opposing pitcher.” The Mets’ inability to win games with deGrom on the mound has been baffling. He leads the majors with a 1.85 ERA, and may still capture the Cy Young award, but his magnificence hasn’t ascended the Mets out of MLB’s basement. He pitched eight innings and allowed two runs. In total, deGrom’s allowed four runs in 33 innings against the Braves, and his team doesn’t have a victory to show for it. In 16 career starts against the Braves, deGrom has amassed a 1.83 ERA, third best among active starters. But the Braves have won 10 of those meetings. “It’s such a tough battle when you face him,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I just sit back and – do I like playing him? No. Do I like watching him pitch? Absolutely. I love watching him pitch. He’s just so good. It’s fun to watch him.” Sanchez matched deGrom as his ace-level performance persists into August. The veteran righty had one rough inning, when deGrom’s RBI-single tied the game in the third. He finished six frames and struck out a season-best nine on 100 pitches. The Braves pinch-hit Ryan Flaherty for him in the seventh. The Braves saw Brandon McCarthy and Mike Soroka go down and miss extended time, if not the remainder of the year. But Sanchez has been the buffer. He’s exceeded even the most optimistic projections, and more impressive, he’s maintained the elite performances into the stretch run. Sanchez has a 2.89 ERA across 15 starts, a remarkable result for a player the team took a flier on in March. As for the offense, it collected six hits against deGrom. These Braves boast lineup depth that’s been absent in Atlanta for quite sometime: They’ve got speed, power, can hit for average, can walk. If the Braves play like they have for the past five games and not the four prior, they’ll be in the race until the end. Of course, more games against the Marlins and Mets won’t hurt.<doc-sep>In fact, the only run they scored came off the bat of deGrom, who ripped an RBI single up the middle to plate Amed Rosario, who had doubled in the third inning. Earlier this season, deGrom had been put on the disabled list after hyperextending his elbow on a swing. The Mets were reluctant to let him take cuts once he returned, but at this point in the season, he has as good a chance as any at producing.<doc-sep>Anibal Sanchez out dueled Jacob deGrom as the Atlanta Braves extended their winning streak to five straight with a 2-1 win over the New York Mets. The Braves took an early lead when Johan Camargo jumped on an inside fastball and drove it into the second deck at Citi Field for his 13th home run of the season to make it 1-0. The Mets struck back in the third as deGrom took things into his own hands. Amed Rosario doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a deGrom single to center to tie the game at 1-1. Brandon Nimmo followed with a walk before Sanchez recovered and struck out Jose Bautista and Michael Conforto to end the threat. The score would remain tied until the fifth when the Braves struck again. Charlie Culberson and Sanchez struck out to start the inning but Ronald Acuna Jr. followed with a double to left. Ozzie Albies then followed with a bloop double of his own to score Acuna and put Atlanta back in front. That was all the Sanchez would need as he and three relievers made it hold up. Sanchez was spectacular again allowing just two hits and one run over six innings. He struck out nine and walked two. Daniel Winkler walked the first batter he faced in the seventh but came away with no damage. Jesse Biddle worked a scoreless eighth while A.J. Minter pitched around an error to nail down the victory. DeGrom deserved a better fate allowing six hits and two runs over eight innings. He struck out nine and walked just one. He has now faced the Braves five times this season and has allowed just four runs and has struck out 40 batters in 34 innings but is 0-2 with New York losing all five games. The series will continue on Saturday when Kevin Gausman will make his debut in a Braves’ uniform. Zack Wheeler is the scheduled starter for the Mets.<doc-sep>One game out of every five, Jacob deGrom is the conductor of the Mets’ orchestra, the leader of a gaggle of instrumentalists who hit dissonant notes as he works on a masterpiece. They tend to play only one song, and they always seem to come up flat. On Friday night, the rest of the Mets again were way off key, continuing their uncanny inability to support deGrom’s gems. He dominated on the mound and even drove in a run. None of his teammates did much of anything, though, and the Mets lost to the Braves, 2-1, at Citi Field. DeGrom leads the majors with a 1.85 ERA. In his seven losses (against five wins), he has a 2.88 ERA, which would rank 11th among baseball’s 79 qualified pitchers — better than the Yankees’ Luis Severino, the Phillies’ Jake Arrieta and the Braves’ Mike Foltynewicz. “Every time I go out there, I’m trying to put us in a position to win,” deGrom said. “We just haven’t won baseball games that I’ve been pitching. It’s not like these guys aren’t trying to put up runs.” Manager Mickey Callaway said: “I don’t think Jacob just says the right things to say the right things. He really believes it. He knows those guys are out there trying.” DeGrom allowed two runs, six hits and one walk in eight innings, striking out nine. Subscribe to Newsday’s sports newsletter Receive stories, photos and videos about your favorite New York teams plus national sports news and events. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. Atlanta struck in the second on Johan Camargo’s solo home run off the facing of the upper deck in rightfield. “Good pitch,” said deGrom, who threw a career-high 33 changeups. “He had to be looking for it.” The only other run against deGrom came with two outs in the fifth, when Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies each doubled to leftfield. Most nights for most teams, that would be good enough for a win. When deGrom pitches, good enough isn’t. Sure, he could have done more. He could have pitched nine innings instead of eight, allowed one run instead of two, and homered instead of singled. The last of those occurred in the third inning, when his grounder up the middle drove in Amed Rosario from second. It might not provide deGrom any consolation, but the Mets have treated most of their pitchers this way of late, scoring 11 runs in the past six games. In two of those games, they would have been shut out if not for a run-scoring hit from the pitcher — deGrom on Friday night, Zack Wheeler on Sunday. The Mets have scored one or no runs in 24 games. Only the Orioles, who have the worst record in baseball, have done it more often (27 times). The Mets had only two hits, including Rosario’s double. Anibal Sanchez struck out nine in six innings. “Early, I felt like we were going to get to the guy. We hit some balls hard. They made some decent plays on the run,” Callaway said. “And then the later it gets . . . you do get a little frustrated. You start feeling that you let Jacob down.” DeGrom has allowed four runs in 33 innings in five starts against the Braves this year (his run total Friday matched his runs allowed in his first four games against them). He has a 1.09 ERA in those games, none of which has been won by the Mets. The Mets did lend deGrom a hand defensively. In the third, second baseman Jose Reyes started a double play with a diving stop of Albies’ grounder. First baseman Jose Bautista fired to third to get Acuña, who was trying to advance from first. Callaway thought the ensuing burst of positive energy might carry over. It didn’t. Four months into this bizarre trend, deGrom isn’t used to it. “It’s not something I ever want to get used to,” he said. “Nobody in here likes losing.”<doc-sep>
Jacob deGrom had another great outing and was rewarded with the loss yet again tonight, as the Mets offense managed to scratch out just one run against Anibal Sanchez and the Braves bullpen. It was deGrom’s 19th straight start in which he allowed 3 runs or less, but it was also his seventh straight start without a win. The Braves struck first in the second with a towering solo home run off the bat of Johan Camargo with two outs. deGrom worked around traffic in the early going, but was able to keep his pitch count low, thanks in particular to a well executed and timely 4-3-5 double play in the top of the third. If nothing else, deGrom’s defense didn’t fail him for once. The Mets tied the game in the bottom of that frame when Amed Rosario led off the inning with a double and deGrom had to drive Rosario in himself with a single to put the Mets on the board. Those were the only two hits the Mets would collect all night. The Braves took the lead in the fifth on back-to-back two-out doubles from Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies. deGrom bounced back to strike out Freddie Freeman and retire ten Braves in a row to end his night. But unfortunately it was not enough. Anibal Sanchez struck out a season-high nine batters and the rookies Dan Winkler, Jesse Biddle, and A.J. Minter each pitched a scoreless inning to seal the deal for the Braves. Full recap to follow. GameThread Roll Call Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.