[This is from ububba, who will be doing double duty for double pay by attending the nightcap and reporting late tonight. He doesn’t know it, but I pay triple when you work overtime. But if the Braves lose the nightcap, he owes me. — JF]

Yup, baseball’s weird. The New York Mets – especially this version that’s missing Juan Soto – might have the worst lineup in the NL. After Lindor (and maybe Bichette), it’s a team that doesn’t scare you much offensively. You look at this week at Citi Field and think: Hey, maybe we pick up another game on the suddenly nosediving Phillies…

But, you gotta score to win, and our Braves didn’t really do that today in the first game of a day/night doubleheader, losing 3-2 in Flushing. The difference came from rookie RF Carson Benge, who stroked a 2-out, 7th inning, RBI double off Dylan Dodd. So… break up the Mets, a club that’s 6-3 vs. Atlanta right now. Let’s hope Chris Sale has the solution for Game 2 tonight.

Game 1: After a deluge of rain on Tuesday, our regularly scheduled getaway-day contest became Game 1 of a split doubleheader. The opener saw the return to the mound of promising right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver, who suffered an UCL tear in May ’25 & underwent Tommy John Surgery the following month.

Fun Fact: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but according to Wiki, AJSS is dating Jose Canseco’s daughter. Talk about hereditary possibilities…

So, 13-plus months since undergoing the knife, the 23-year-old Texan breezed thru 4 innings – 2 H, 1 BB, 4K on 58 pitches (36 strikes). Mostly using an effective 4-seamer (with an occasional 2-strike, off-speed splitter), AJSS avoided any serious trouble.

Problem was, Mets junkballer Sean Manaea was having another strong start against us in Citi Field. (On June 13, the lefty lost a 3-1 decision to ATL, but pitched well, giving up only 2 runs on 4 hits in 6 IP.) With a mix of looping sweepers and low-octane 4-seemers, he confounded Braves hitters, who mostly seemed to jump out of their shoes at his repertoire. He’s a bit like Ranger Suarez – not killer stuff, but sometimes really baffling.

In the bottom of the 5th, the bottom of the Mets order did the damage. After issuing a 4-pitch walk to #7 hitter Tyrone Taylor, Brett Baty scorched a single off the glove of a leaping Matt Olson. If he comes down with it, Olson might have a double-play similar to the snag-and-tag that saved the game in Baltimore the other day. Instead, it’s first and third with no outs.

Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez then powered an RBI double that skipped up against the LF fence and Ewing quickly supplied a sac fly to CF – 2-0 NYM. With that, WW pulled AJSS, bringing in Didier Fuentes, who walked Lindor, then tiptoed thru the inning unscathed.

To Note: An encouraging 69-pitch comeback effort from AJSS (4.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K).

But just like that, the Braves equalized. (Sounds a lot better when a British announcer says it, right?) In the 6th, Drake whacked a resounding double off the LF wall and Olson followed with a blast – his 28th – into the RF bullpen. Now it’s 2-2 & AJSS was off the hook.

Enter the celebrated Victor Mederos. A Jared Young single & a Jorge Polanco sac put a runner on second. With 2 outs, Mederos gave way to LHP Dylan Dodd to face Baty, who gave way to Marcus Semien to PH.

So far, Semien has been the personification of this year’s Mets squad. As a plus defender & a guy who had some whopping offensive seasons in the AL, he was billed as another heralded acquisition set to impact the team’s overall makeup. But, hampered by a hip-flexor issue all year, Semien has been seriously disappointing. Accordingly, he struck out on an up-and-away heater.

Oh, Those Bases on Balls Dept.: After whiffing Alvarez, Dodd walked both Ewing and Lindor on full counts. Ewing advanced to third on a Bichette F9. But, with 2 outs, Carson Benge sprayed a double to right, scoring Ewing. 3-2 NYM.

After Dodd hit Young with a pitch to load ’em up, WW pulled him & brought in LHP Danny Young, who struck out Polanco looking on a nifty sweeper, ending the rally. A one-out GIDP from Olson ended the Braves 8th. The recently problematic Tyler Kinley – 8 scoreless appearances out of 11, but a 9.82 ERA in July – looked good, getting ’em out in order in the bottom of the inning.

Speaking of problematic… Mets closer Devin Williams, who’s had all kinds of trouble since he left Milwaukee for shaky stints with the two Big Apple clubs, managed to remember that he was once a top-tier reliever & kept the Braves off the board, only giving up a single & SB to Mauricio Dubón. Riley whiffed on a pitch up and out of the strike zone to end it. Final score in Game 1, Mets 3 Braves 2.

Any good news? Yup, the Phillies blew a 6-0 lead in Miami, losing 8-6. After dropping 12 straight, the Marlins managed to sweep the Phloundering Phils in Little Havana. Since the break, Philadelphia is 3-9.

Next up: Game 2 featuring Chris Sale (11-6, 2.19 ERA) vs. Christian Scott (3-2, 3.13).

FWIW, I will be at Citi Field tonight, so I hope it’ll be a relatively quiet stadium tonight & an even quieter 7-train ride back home. Go Braves.