The Atlanta Braves are much better than their record indicates. It was the case when they were struggling in California and it’s the case now that they’re facing the Miami Marlins after having swept the New York Mets. While you can certainly point out that the Mets have hit a rough patch at the moment and maybe Atlanta caught New York at the right time, the fact is that the Braves are fully capable of playing at this level against anyone. They just have to figure out a way to play at a high level consistently.
The pitching matchups were extremely favorable for the Braves in this series as Atlanta had Spencer Schwellenbach, Chris Sale, and Spencer Strider going for them against the team with the National League’s best record heading into this series. The Braves had loaded up their rotation for this massive series and the rest of the team needed to deliver as well. As you know by now, the rest of the team did deliver. Let’s talk about how Atlanta got this done.
New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves Series Recap
Game 1: Braves 5, Mets 4
This did not look good for the Braves in the early and middle portions of this game. Juan Soto marked his return to Truist Park as a divisional foe with a solo home run that put New York in front to start off and then Tyrone Taylor plated two with a double to make it a 3-0 Mets lead. The Braves clawed back with a run in the third inning but Taylor snatched the run right back with a solo home run of his own to make it 4-1 after five innings.
Things would stay that way until the eighth inning which is when Atlanta started their usual eighth inning magic. David Peterson had made it into the eighth inning before a walk and a single chased him from the game. The Mets went with Reed Garrett and that didn’t work out because Alex Verdugo welcomed him to the game with an RBI single and then Marcell Ozuna brought the crowd in Cobb County to a fever pitch with a bases-clearing, game-tying RBI double to make it 4-4.
The game would eventually go to extras, where Raisel Iglesias came up huge with a strong tenth inning, as he finally seems to be turning things around. Austin Riley would become the walk-off hero in the bottom of the tenth as his sacrifice fly plated Luke Williams and gave Atlanta a much-needed victory.
Game 2: Braves 5, Mets 0
We got even more proof that Sale is locked in at the moment as he almost joined Schwellenbach in the 2025 Braves Complete Game Club. Sale came one out away from throwing what would’ve been the second complete game for Atlanta in 2025. It would’ve been his first complete game as a Braves pitcher and his 17th as a big leaguer. However, it wasn’t meant to be as Brandon Nimmo ruined it with a two-out single in the ninth. Iglesias finished things off and Sale’s gem helped push Atlanta to a comfortable win.
This felt like one of those vintage games from 2023 where Atlanta regularly established right out of the gate that this was going to be a painful night at Truist Park for the opposition. Ronald Acuña Jr. crushed the first pitch he saw for a leadoff home run and then the Braves added on a couple more runs off of an error and a sacrifice fly. With the way Sale was pitching, those three runs were more than enough to win, but a fifth-inning run scored off a wild pitch and a seventh-inning bomb from Matt Olson would bring us to the final score of 5-0.
Game 3: Braves 7, Mets 1
New York was up 1-0 after three innings following an RBI single in the second inning from a potential star in the making, Ronny Mauricio, and that was as good as it got for the Mets in this one. This was just more dominance by Atlanta in this game, as Strider went six innings with eight strikeouts and only allowed one run, continuing his momentum from his start against the Colorado Rockies.
Ozzie Albies tied it up with a single in the fourth inning and then walks became the name of the game for Atlanta as they pulled ahead in the fifth inning. Two go-ahead bases-loaded walks gave the Braves control of the game and then a bases-loaded double from Olson in the sixth inning broke it wide open. Drake Baldwin added an RBI single of his own and from that point on, the Mets were down for the count as the Braves completed the sweep of New York.
Final Thoughts
This is simply the level of baseball that the Braves will need to play going forward. I’m not saying they have to sweep the next five or six series, but the level of form that they reached throughout this series is something that they have to maintain if they have any shot at making the playoffs. This series is proof that Atlanta can not only play with any team in baseball, but they can beat any team in baseball. They just have to keep on stringing together complete games like this from their lineup and their pitching staff and the wins should flow.
This was the perfect start to this stretch within the division. Atlanta must avoid a letdown series against the Marlins, which is a very realistic possibility if the Braves continue to deal with their inconsistencies that they have had all season. After their series with Miami, they’ve got a trip to New York for four games and an encounter with the Philadelphia Phillies before this divisional stretch is over. Still, sweeping the Mets shows that this team still has some fight in it.
Main Image: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
