ATLANTA — No Michael Conforto. No Jeff McNeil. No Brandon Nimmo. No J.D. Davis. And after three innings, no Taijuan Walker. Then after the seventh inning, no Kevin Pillar.
Despite all of this, the Mets defeated the Braves, 3-1, on Monday night at Truist Park. New York, which is now 19-16, overcame more unfortunate luck and survived a late-game scare to snap a three-game skid.
It's almost unfathomable what the Mets are going through right now. And the names in the first sentence of this story aren't the team's only injured players — the Mets have a slew of others on the injured list, from starting pitchers like Jacob deGrom and Carlos Carrasco to depth pieces like Luis Guillorme and Albert Almora Jr.
Optimism:Why Mets fans should still feel very good despite Jacob deGrom's injury
Heading into Monday night's game, you probably thought it couldn't get any worse.
Then it did.
The worst scene came when Pillar, batting with the bases loaded in the seventh, took Jacob Webb's 95 mph fastball to the face. Pillar immediately fell face down on the dirt, his nose covered in blood — so much of if, in fact, that the grounds crew here had to go onto the field to clean it up.
That only followed the bad luck from earlier in the evening: The Mets' starting pitcher, Walker, departed the game after throwing three scoreless innings because he felt tightness in his left side.
Because of the bad luck the Mets endured on this day, a loss simply would've been the last event in an awful day.
Instead, the Mets clawed their way to victory. They used a team effort, which will need to become normal if they want to stay afloat through this tough stretch.
In the seventh inning, pinch-hitter James McCann, who has struggled at the plate this season, doubled home the game's first run. The runner: Tomás Nido, who led off the inning with a double after his hand was hit while he was behind the plate in the previous inning. (This was one good break the Mets received because, at the time, Nido seemed in a considerable amount of pain. Yet, he remained in the game.).
Johneshwy Fargas, making his major league debut because of all the injuries, notched his first-career hit in the eighth, a massive RBI double to give the Mets a three-run lead they needed.
If you can believe it — and you root for the Mets, so I'm sure you can — the Mets teetered toward the end of this game.
Trevor May came in to protect a three-run lead in the eighth, but served up a solo home run to Austin Riley. Then Guillermo Heredia, a former Met, doubled. Suddenly, the Braves had the tying run on base with one out.
The next two batters, Pablo Sandoval and Ehire Adrianza, hit balls hard off Trevor May — only one went right to Khalil Lee in right field, the other to José Peraza at second base. Both Mets were positioned perfectly to make the plays.
In the ninth, Edwin Diaz, protecting a two-run lead, walked Freddie Freeman on four pitches before retiring the next two batters to slam the door.
Melting down and losing this game after the horrific day they had?
Not even the Mets could be that unlucky.
