Teheran stops contending Mets again, Braves win 4th in row

Syndergaard, the only healthy starter left from among the Mets’ heralded young pitchers, was chased in the fourth inning after allowing five runs, and the Mets’ wild-card run was slowed with a 7-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Monday night. While the Braves’ postseason plans were dashed long ago, NY holds a one-game lead on both San Francisco and St. Louis in the race for the two National League wild card spots.

With 11 games remaining – seven of those against wild-card-leading Toronto and Baltimore – the Yanks (79-72) are 2½ games behind the Orioles for the final spot.

NY bounced back from a four-game sweep against Boston that had them losing seven of eight games.

Mets: LHP Steven Matz (shoulder tightness), sidelined since August 14, possibly could start Friday night at home vs. the Phillies.

Cabrera crushed a 1-2 pitch from Ryan Weber into the right-field loge for a 2-0 lead in the first inning, his 21st home run of the year.

Cespedes thought he had a go-ahead homer.

In the sixth and seventh innings, the Braves responded to the Mets initial score with a total of 5 runs, but the Mets gave it a last-minute effort that was a little too late in the bottom of the eighth inning.

“I didn’t call it”, Granderson said about the drop in right-center that got Atlanta on the scoreboard in the sixth. “Just get the bird off the ground and get us in flight, see where we end up”. “Frustrating”, Bruce said before the game.

In an appearance on Mike Francesa’s WFAN show, the former Mets pitcher and current TV analyst said it’s clear manager Terry Collins has no faith in the slumping slugger. A similar two-day break created to clear his head had seemed to jump-start Neil Walker back in July.

Acquired by the Mets from Cincinnati at the August 1 trade deadline, Bruce pinch hit and flied out in Monday night’s 7-3 loss to against Atlanta. Bruce also has three hits in his past 38 at-bats.

How far has Bruce sunk? That’s when Collins pulled Bruce and sent up Campbell to face lefty Ian Krol. The numbers are great:.284/.354/.543 with 30 home runs, despite playing just 122 games and spending the past month hobbling around with a bad hamstring. Kevin Plawecki kept the rally alive by reaching first on Garcia’s fielding error, but Travis d’Arnaud then grounded out to strand the two runners. “But my job is to try to win the game, in my opinion”. “I know I talked to him about it”.

Despite his indifference to the rookie of the year balloting – “I don’t know, it’s not up to me” – Sanchez ought to figure prominently.

“It’s great when you achieve something like that, but what makes it better is that you’re helping the team win”, Sanchez said quietly through an interpreter. “But that’s not a fun situation”. If Conforto can get anything going while Bruce treats his advanced case of New York-itis, though?

“I knew I hit the ball well”, he said through a translator.

“I think he’s extremely frustrated”, he added. “I don’t deserve any explanation from the manager”. “It is what it is”. The Marlins, a team all of a sudden are sneaking in the race with 11 games remaining because the Mets, Cardinals and Giants are finding different ways to lose. The rope may be getting short. This could happen should outfielder Yoenis Cespedes realize that he would not continue on in his contract and go ahead with a free agency, which is but a certainty at this moment in time. That’s not the point here.The point is that Jay Bruce wasn’t trusted to come to the plate as the tying run.

Colon finally exhausted in the seventh, coughing up Recker’s two-run home run to right, and then was chased by Dansby Swanson’s two-out single to right.

“He’s always had the ability and always the chances to go out and play”, Collins said about Bruce. “So I told the guys … we start another streak [Wednesday]”. We plan on having to fight for everything we got.