Joey Lucchesi Pitches Well in Mets’ Regular Season Finale

When the Mets (89-73) clinched a postseason berth with their wild 8-7 victory over the Braves (89-73) in the first game of their doubleheader, they were able to save Luis Severino for the Wild Card round, calling up Joey Lucchesi (0-2, 5.23 ERA) to pitch the final game of the regular season with only seeding being determined by whether the Mets won or lost.

Atlanta was supposed to rely on Chris Sale, the National League Cy Young Award favorite, to save their season in the second game of the doubleheader, but the Braves received a major scare when it was announced between games that Sale was scratched with back spasms.

That put Atlanta’s season on the back of Grant Holmes (2-1, 3.56 ERA), who has had a great rookie season but is by no means Chris Sale. In the matchup between Lucchesi and Holmes, it was more of a pitchers’ duel than you’d expect, and it resulted in a 3-0 Braves win. With the doubleheader split, that means both the Mets and Braves are in the postseason, leaving the Diamondbacks out of it after winning the National League a year ago.

The Braves win secures them a series in San Diego, while the Mets will travel back to Milwaukee for a best-of-three set with the Brewers.

New York understandably came out in game two looking like a team that was ready to get on the plane to wherever their destination for the Wild Card round might’ve been. Grant Holmes looked a lot like Chris Sale early, tossing four perfect innings with seven strikeouts. He started to falter, though, in the fifth inning when he allowed a leadoff single and a walk. That was the end of the line for him, as the Braves pivoted to Daysbel Hernández.

Hernández entered the game with a one-run lead, as Gio Urshela had opened up the scoring against Joey Lucchesi with an RBI single in the second inning. Hernández saved Holmes by retiring the three batters he faced in the inning, recording two strikeouts and a groundout to keep Atlanta’s one-run lead intact heading to the bottom of the fifth.

The Mets again threatened to score the following inning, when Brandon Nimmo hit a two-out single off of lefty reliever Dylan Lee to advance Eddy Alvarez to third base. Pete Alonso, though, grounded out to third on the first pitch he saw to keep the Mets down a run.

Joey Lucchesi did a fantastic job of keeping the Mets in the game as he finished off six strong innings of one-run ball. It was Lucchesi’s first start at any level since July 31 for the Syracuse Mets, when he allowed six runs in 2 1/3 innings and was subsequently moved to the bullpen. But baseball is baseball. Against an Atlanta Braves team in desperate need of a win, he held them to just one run on three hits in six marvelous innings.

Because Lucchesi kept the Mets in the game late, the Braves went to perhaps their best weapon, starter Reynaldo López, to start off the seventh inning. He eased through a 1-2-3 inning, tossing 15 pitches before he received insurance in the bottom of the seventh. Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run single with two outs and runners on second and third, giving the Braves a 3-0 lead and moving them closer to a postseason berth.

Because the Braves received a two-run boost, they opted for Joe Jiménez in the eighth inning, and he also set the Mets down 1-2-3 before Raisel Iglesias came on for the ninth. Iglesias allowed a leadoff hit to Jose Iglesias, who extended his hitting streak to 22 games. Other than that, though, the Mets failed to score and fell 3-0.

Normally, a shutout is nothing to be happy about, but the Mets will gladly head to the visiting clubhouse at Truist Park and celebrate before heading off to Milwaukee tonight.

Player of the Game

Joey Lucchesi not only pitched six innings of one-run ball against the Braves’ A-lineup, but he also stepped in and saved the Mets bullpen from having to get legitimate outs a day before their postseason starts. Regardless of his performance, the length he provided and the Mets only needing to use the bullpen for six outs was huge. The Mets opted to go with Huascar Brazobán and Adam Ottavino to record the final six outs.

On Deck

The Mets are set to begin their Wild Card series with the Brewers at 5:32 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. The pitching matchup is shaping up to be Luis Severino (11-7, 3.91 ERA), who is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in three career starts against Milwaukee, against Freddy Peralta (11-9, 3.68 ERA), who is 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA in three career starts against the Mets.

The Mets’ second game of the series will begin at 7:38 p.m. ET on Wednesday, and if the series goes to three games, that final game will be played at 8:38 p.m. ET on Thursday.

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