Braves at Mets
Freddie Freeman loves hitting against the New York Mets, and he led a breakout offensive performance the visiting Atlanta Braves hope to replicate in the finale of a rain-shortened two-game series Thursday. Freeman was one of six Braves to collect multiple hits as Atlanta emphatically ended a six-game losing streak Wednesday with an 8-2 victory, raising his career average against the Mets to .314.
The Braves - who hit .194 in averaging 2.5 runs and 6.3 hits during their skid - pounded out a season-high 16 hits Wednesday, including one by Brandon Phillips to extend his hitting streak to 11 games before the second baseman left the game with a left groin strain (he is listed as day-to-day). The Mets’ decision to push ace Noah Syndegaard to Thursday’s series finale backfired as New York allowed five runs in the first inning in Yoenis Cespedes’ return to the lineup. The New York left fielder, who missed the previous three games with a hamstring injury, finished 1-for-4 but it was not enough to keep the Mets from losing their fifth in a row and ninth in the past 10 games. New York was held without a homer for just the fifth time in 20 games this season.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), SNY (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH R.A. Dickey (1-2, 3.86 ERA) vs. Mets RH Noah Syndergaard (1-1, 1.73)
Dickey needed just 73 pitches to navigate seven strong innings against Washington on Thursday, giving up three runs on three hits with three strikeouts in a tough 3-2 loss. Right-handed batters are hitting .283 with three homers in 46 at-bats against the 42-year-old. Dickey, who won 39 games and a Cy Young Award with New York from 2010-12, is 2-0 with a 1.59 in three career appearances against the Mets.
The Mets elected to change course Wednesday, allowing Robert Gsellman to take his normal turn in the rotation and bumping Syndergaard back to Thursday. He lost to the Phillies on April 20, surrendering five runs (three earned) in seven innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks - his sixth career game with no walks and double-digit strikeouts. Syndergaard, who began his season with six shutout innings against the Braves on April 3, has yet to walk a hitter or give up a homer in 26 innings with 30 strikeouts.
WALK-OFFS
1. New York SS Asdrubal Cabrera is 6-for-18 lifetime against Dickey with two homers and six RBIs, while OF Curtis Granderson (.172) and 3B Jose Reyes (.154) have struggled.
2. Braves C Tyler Flowers tied a career high Wednesday with four RBIs, finishing 2-for-4.
3. Freeman has five hits in nine at-bats against Syndergaard, but LF Matt Kemp is 1-for-14 with six strikeouts.
PREDICTION: Mets 3, Braves 2