While the New York Mets continue to sit on top of the National League East, they had a rough time in interleague play that caused the team's momentum to falter. The Atlanta Braves did not fair to well either during a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox as they will now rely on a rookie pitcher making his MLB debut to get momentum back on track.
The Braves' pitching has been inconsistent at best. Guaranteed aces like Julio Teheran have gotten roughed up in recent starts while Alex Wood is not getting any support. After sending Mike Foltynewicz back down to Gwinnett, the team called up top prospect Matt Wisler who was part of the Craig Kimbrel trade to the San Diego Padres. Wisler looked strong in Triple-A, going 3-4 with a 4.29 ERA in 12 starts. He recently gave up seven runs and eight hits in just three innings of play in his last game.
The Braves need some momentum. The team is dangerously close to slipping well below .500 after splitting the losing 3-4 to the Red Sox. The team garnered just six hits in the two-game span at Turner Field while the batting just.290 and averaing 5.2 runs per game. Meanwhile the pitching has put together a 4.53 ERA while opponents are hitting .284 off the starters. Andrelton Simmons and Freddie Freeman are both dealing with injuries and it will be tough to get anything going against the New York Mets.
The Mets will start Jacob deGrom on the mound who is 4-0 with a 1.25 ERA and .162 opponent batting average over his last six starts. He recently gave up a run and five hits to the Braves while striking out nine in seven innings. The Mets appeared shakey against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday falling 7-1. They beat the team 15-1 in the previous two games while batting just .183 in their last four. Lucas Duda does appear to be out of his funk, snapping a 21-innings scoreless streak with a home run. He is 12 for 27 against the Braves.
The Mets have been beating up on the Braves all season long and their next chance is in a three-game series at Turner Field. The Braves have a chance to get some momentum going and potentially take over the No.2 spot if they can string together some wins.