ATLANTA _ As a fire broke out at Citi Field Wednesday afternoon, the baseball team was not in much better shape. Shaky bullpen work and injuries to two starting pitchers made this eight-game road trip against the Braves and Brewers one to forget.
With the team on the brink of falling under .500, they managed to escape Atlanta with contributions from some unexpected contributors.
Beleaguered starter Jason Vargas threw five scoreless innings and the bullpen did its part in a 4-1 win over the Braves on Wednesday night at SunTrust Park. Vargas (2-3) produced his best start of the year, and the bullpen allowed only one run.
Adrian Gonzalez and Brandon Nimmo each drove in a pair of runs as the Mets (27-26) managed a split of this series while going 3-5 on this road trip.
The Mets appeared to be in a tough spot entering Thursday's game with Vargas, their worst starter, facing nemesis Julio Teheran, but baseball can be unpredictable.
Wednesday marked the first time Vargas started on three days best between starts, and apparently short rest brings out the best in him.
He yielded just two hits while striking out two spanning 65 pitches.
Like his other strong start against Miami, Vargas set the tone for his night with a scoreless first inning. Vargas had allowed 12 runs in the first in his previous five starts, but he worked around a two-out single by Freddie Freeman to keep the game scoreless.
Vargas then worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the second by retiring Teheran on a fly out, and then found his groove. That out started a stretch of nine straight batters retired by Vargas, and that stretch ended due to an error by Amed Rosario in the fifth.
Mets manager Mickey Callaway said Vargas had a pitch count of 100, but he pulled the veteran after just 65 pitches with him set to face Atlanta's top hitters for a third time.
Vargas has now produced five scoreless innings in two of his six starts, and has been tattooed in the other four. He lowered his ERA to 8.53.
With Callaway pulling Vargas early, a taxed bullpen had to attempt to record 12 outs while nursing just a one-run lead. The Mets' bullpen struggled during this series, allowing walk-off homers in the first game Monday and Tuesday night.
Callaway said a 'here we go again" mindset may be affecting the relievers.
"They're going to learn from this and realize you know what, we can bounce back from this," Callaway said before the game. "We've hit rock bottom the last few days. We have to come out of it. We're starting to get some players back."
Newcomer Tim Peterson, after being called up earlier in the day, entered in the sixth with Atlanta's 2-3-4 hitters up and retired them in order.
After getting the first out in the seventh, Peterson surrendered a solo homer to right to Johan Camargo that sliced the Mets' lead to 2-1. He completed two innings.
In the eighth, Callaway used a progressive bullpen strategy that he discussed employing in spring training only to not use it prior to Wednesday.
With the Braves sending their top three hitters to the plate, he went to closer Jeurys Familia. Familia escaped the inning unscathed thanks to a great double play initiated by Amed Rosario when he laid out to rob Nick Markakis of an RBI single.
Robert Gsellman then pitched a perfect ninth frame to close out the game.
The Mets needed a strong outing from Vargas since Teheran once again pitched a great game against them. Some well-placed hits allowed the Mets offense to do just enough.
In a scoreless game in the fourth, Jay Bruce led off with a double on a roller that just stayed fair. With one out, Gonzalez ripped a double to right that just stayed fair and scored Bruce. It ended Teheran's 22-inning scoreless streak against the Mets.
With two outs and none on in the seventh, Amed Rosario ripped a triple to left-center, and Brandon Nimmo followed a bloop RBI single into center for a 2-0 edge.
That run loomed large when Camargo homered in the next inning. Teheran allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings.
Scoring two runs against Teheran was a commendable achievement for the Mets offense since he owned a career 2.11 ERA against them entering the night.
Gonzalez contributed an RBI single in the eighth to push the edge back to two runs, and Nimmo's RBI double in the ninth gave the Mets a 4-1 lead.
