The New York Mets (80-71) fell to the Atlanta Braves (60-91) for the second night in a row by the final score of 5-4. For a full boxscore recap follow the link below…

http://m.mlb.com/gameday/braves-vs-mets/2016/09/20/449117?#game=449117,game_state=final,game_tab=box

Game Notes:

• Robert Gsellman was solid despite picking up tonight’s loss going 5.1 innings and giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, while walking 2 and striking out 6.
• Relievers Fernando Salas and Jerry Blevins combined to allow 3 runs on 4 hits in 1.1 innings of work.
• Asdrubal Cabrera was 3-3 with a double, 2 walks, a run scored and an RBI single.
• Curtis Granderson was 1-4 with an RBI double.
• T.J. Rivera was 1-3 with a sacrifice fly.
• Eric Campbell was 1-1 with a pinch-hit RBI single.

Well after the last two days we can assume nothing is going to be easy with the Mets, and we should brace ourselves for a race down to the wire. The Mets have far and away the easiest schedule of the three teams battling for the NL Wild Card, and the Braves have taken it to the Mets the last two nights. It is very possible there is a three-way tie after tonight’s play with the Mets loss tonight, and victories by both the Cardinals and Giants. It is certainly frustrating to see the Mets not carrying the momentum built from over the weekend into this week’s series against the Braves. The Braves have historically given the Mets fits and put a damper on their postseason dreams in the past which makes it all the more frustrating. The Mets will have a chance tomorrow to salvage a game from the series tomorrow evening against the Braves, but I’m sure many Mets fans at this point may be internally freaking out about the way the team has looked the past two nights. 

I am currently not freaking out about the Mets chances just yet, but I am very concerned with the play of Jay Bruce. Bruce went 0-3 on the evening before Terry Collins pinch-hit for the former Reds slugger with Eric Campbell (yes you read that correctly), in the middle of the Mets three-run inning in the bottom of the eighth. Bruce also had the miscommunication in the top of the sixth in the outfield with Curtis Granderson which allowed the Braves to plate their first run of the game. I’m not sure where the Mets go from here with Bruce as he’s clearly been struggling on the field for the Mets, and they certainly haven’t gotten nothing close to the return on investment they were expecting when they made the trade. Collins has stressed that if you hit you will play, as Michael Conforto was in the lineup over Bruce both on Sunday and Monday. It will be interesting to see if Bruce, who has hit .176 since joining the Mets, will be in tomorrow’s lineup for the Mets or if they go in another direction yet again. 

The Mets will need to regroup and put together another winning streak if they want a chance to reach the postseason, as they have suffered back-to-back critical losses. I will not doubt this team yet as they have overcome multiple hurdles this season but time is of the essence and victories are the only thing that will matter over this final week and a half of the season. 

• The Mets will look to avoid the sweep against the Braves tomorrow evening with a 7:10 pm et. scheduled first pitch. You can catch tomorrow night’s game on SNY.

• Bartolo Colon (14-7, 3.14 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Mets and face Braves right-hander Ryan Weber (0-1, 6.00 ERA).