Francisco Lindor's big night not enough as Mets blow late lead in 4-3 loss to Braves

The Mets and Braves played the final game of a three-game series on Thursday night at Citi Field.

Here are the takeaways…

– With the Mets leading, 3-2, in the eighth inning, Ryan Helsley coughed up the lead. After getting Drake Baldwin to fly out to lead off, Helsley walked Marcell Ozuna before serving up back-to-back run-scoring doubles — the first to Michael Harris II, the second to Ozzie Albies — as Atlanta went ahead, 4-3.

– The Mets didn't muster much after falling behind, with Lindor's one-out single in the eighth the only time they reached base the rest of the way.

– Francisco Lindorbroke a scoreless tie in the third, smoking a solo homer to center field off Braves starter Bryce Elder to give New York a 1-0 lead. It was Lindor's 22nd home run of the season.

– The inning after being staked to a lead, Kodai Senga gave up a game-tying homer to Albies with two outs in the fourth. 

It was a very strong performance for Senga overall, though, as he allowed two runs on five hits while walking one and striking out seven in 5.2 innings. The second run scored after Senga exited with runners on first and third and two outs in the sixth.

Facing Albies, Tyler Rogers allowed a run-scoring single to left field before ending the inning by inducing a dribbler in front of the plate.

– New York responded immediately in the bottom of the frame, almost entirely on the legs of Lindor. With one out, Lindor roped a single to left-center. He promptly stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Drake Baldwin.Following a Juan Soto walk, Brandon Nimmo ripped a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Lindor with the tying run. 

Soto then stole second base and came around to score on a single by Pete Alonso to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. It was Alonso's 99th RBI on the season.

Meanwhile, the stolen base by Soto was the Mets' 36th straight attempt without getting caught, which set a new franchise record.

Game MVP: Francisco Lindor

Lindor did all he could in defeat, going 3-for-4 with a home run, two singles, a stolen base, and two runs scored. 

Highlights

What's next

The Mets open a three-game series with the Mariners at Citi Field on Friday at 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

Sean Manaea gets the start for New York, opposed by Luis Castillo for Seattle.

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