On a day when question marks surrounded the Mets’ rotation in the aftermath of Kodai Senga’s potentially season-ending calf injury, it was their bats that came up small in a 4-0 loss to Atlanta at Citi Field on Saturday.
The Mets were overmatched against Atlanta rookie right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach, who struck out 11 and gave up just two hits in seven scoreless innings.
The loss ended the Mets’ five-game winning streak and knocked them from the top of the National League wild-card race just a day after they bumped the Braves into second.
Atlanta entered having dropped six straight, but as Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Friday, he wasn’t looking at the standings.
Still, the Mets were looking to get to a season-high eight games over .500.
They still haven’t been there since 2022 and never got much going Saturday, shutout for just the second time since May 28.
Tylor Megill, after nearly a month in the minors, took Christian Scott’s spot in the rotation after the young right-hander landed on the injured list with a strained UCL.
He allowed a season-high three homers in an underwhelming performance, giving up four runs in six-plus innings.
Megill got off to a fast start to the afternoon, as he retired the first 11 batters he faced before Marcell Ozuna gave the Braves the lead with a 423-foot homer to left-center with two outs in the top of the fourth.
Matt Olson followed with a homer to left-center on an 0-2 splitter that bounced off the top of the wall.
The opposite-field shot made it 2-0.
Atlanta added another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Orlando Arcia and Eddie Rosario hit a solo shot off Megill in the seventh.
The Mets at least seem to have avoided another injury scare, when Brandon Nimmo fouled a ball off his knee in the bottom of the fourth.
He seemed to be in significant pain, but finished the at-bat and — more importantly — the game.
On offense, the Mets got just a one-out double by Jeff McNeil in the second and a two-out double by Pete Alonso in the fourth against Schwellenbach.
Schwellenbach retired 21 of the 23 batters he faced — including the final 10.
The Mets finally got another baserunner when Luis Torrens led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to left off closer Raisel Iglesias.
Francisco Lindor sent one to the track in left, but Rosario made a leaping catch before Nimmo singled to bring up J.D. Martinez.
Martinez struck out and Alonso whiffed to end it.