Mets try to get closer to first division title in nine years

Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Andrew McKirahan, second from left, is joined on the mound by catcher A.J. Pierzynski, Freddie Freeman (5) and Andrelton Simmons as he awaits to be taken out of the game by manager Fredi Gonzalez after giving up a two-run double to New York Mets’ Daniel Murphy in the seventh inning of a baseball game, Monday, September 21, 2015, in New York.

Verrett fell behind 2-0, then missed his location with a sinker and Olivera crushed it over the left-center-field wall for a three-run homer.

The Mets, now 85-66, nonetheless have a 6½-game lead over the Washington Nationals for first place in the National League East. The magic number is down to six thanks to the Nats’ loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.

The Amazin’s skipped deGrom’s turn in the rotation Tuesday in hopes of shaking the struggling starter out of his recent funk and getting him refreshed for the stretch run.

That lead held up into the fifth, when Jace Peterson tied it up with a solo shot of his own, his sixth of the season. Michael Bourn reached on an infield single and Nick Markakis was intentionally walked with two outs for Olivera and…he hit the ball a long way.

Mets: RHP Logan Verrett (1-0, 1.91 ERA) fills in for deGrom in the middle game of the series Tuesday night.

Down 4-1, the Mets loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. This one is a big win for us.

Adonis Garcia would take the energy out of Citi Field in the top of the ninth inning when he smacked a two-out, two-run double to the right center field gap, extending the Braves lead to 6-2.

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Shelby Miller (17) pitches against the New York Mets during the second inning at Citi Field. If the right-hander can maintain or improve his current ERA, he’ll become the first pitcher since Melido Perez, Jim Abbott and Tom Candiotti in 1992 to finish with at least 15 losses despite an ERA of 3.00 or better.

Tagged by David Wright’s home run with one out in the first inning and a follow-up double by Daniel Murphy, the Atlanta rookie quickly found his rhythm. I think there are going to be some games where we get outplayed. The loss was the first in seven appearances (six starts) for Colon, who has lowered his ERA from 4.76 to 4.13 in his last eight outings. “We needed this one bad”, Mets manager Terry Collins said.

The Mets seem to be limping into the playoffs as they’ve lost five of their last seven games.

The Braves are 42-72 since Miller’s last win and need to win three of their final 11 games to avoid losing 100 games for the first time since 1988. Atlanta ranks last in the majors with 90 homers and 19 multi-homer games. “We’re going to play hard and work hard and try to win every game we can”. “It just so happened I got a good pitch where I could extend my arms, and the home run came”.

It’s unclear if Juan Uribe, acquired from the Braves on July 24, will be in the lineup for the Mets after leaving Sunday’s game with a bruised chest suffered when he made a diving play in the fifth inning. Curtis Granderson, who was at third, scored on the unfortunate mishap.