ATLANTA (AP) — Michael Harris II had three more hits, including a solo home run and an RBI double, and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach shut down the New York Mets again as the Atlanta Braves cruised to a 5-1 win Tuesday night in the opener of a pivotal three-game series.
Marcell Ozuna added his 39th home run for Atlanta, which trails the Mets by one game in the National League playoff race with five remaining. New York began the night a half-game ahead of Arizona for the second of three wild cards, while the Braves were 1 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks.
Arizona hosted San Francisco in a later start.
Schwellenbach (8-7) threw seven strong innings, giving up one run and three hits with four strikeouts. He allowed one run and five hits while striking out 15 batters over 14 innings in two wins against the Mets this season.
Harris finished a triple shy of the cycle and has 13 hits in his last five games. He also made a diving catch in center field to rob Mets rookie Luisangel Acuña of a base hit.
Acuña was playing his first major league game in front of older brother Ronald Acuña Jr., who watched from the Atlanta dugout. The star Braves outfielder and reigning NL MVP is out for the season with a knee injury. The siblings exchanged jerseys before the game.
Luis Severino (11-7) took the loss, giving up four runs in four innings. He permitted seven hits and a walk while striking out five.
New York was coming off a 6-1 homestand.
Mark Vientos hit his 26th home run for the Mets, and Jose Iglesias extended his hitting streak to 17 games.
The Braves pushed across three runs in the third, when Harris doubled home Orlando Arcia and then scored on a single from Ozzie Albies. With two outs, Ramón Laureano knocked in Albies with a soft single.
Harris extended the lead to 4-0 with a 422-foot homer to left field in the fourth, and Ozuna’s shot made it 5-0 in the fifth.
Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Helene are forecast for the Atlanta area on Wednesday and Thursday, which might make it difficult to get the games in and could potentially force a makeup situation next Monday, one day after the regular season is scheduled to be completed. The Mets are at Milwaukee starting Friday, and the Braves will host the Royals.
UP NEXT
Weather permitting, Mets LHP David Peterson (9-3, 3.08 ERA) will face LHP Chris Sale (18-3, 2.38) in the middle game of the series Wednesday night.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Bill Trocchi, The Associated Press
