Takeaways from Atlanta's doubleheader victory against the New York Mets in Citi Field

The two games looked VERY different, but they both resulted in Braves victories over their division rival New York Mets

Lindsay Crosby | Aug 12, 2023

The Atlanta Braves won both games of their doubleheader against the New York Mets today in Citi Field, taking game one 21-3 and game two 6-0. Here's what you need to know from the day:

The most impressive pitcher of the day was...Allan Winans?

Just as we all predicted, Atlanta's most impressive pitcher was the 28 year-old prospect that barely throws 90 mph.

Allan Winans, who was originally drafted by New York in the 17th round of the 2018 MLB Draft and was left unprotected in the 2021 Rule 5 draft, absolutely SHOVED against New York.

Winans went seven scoreless innings with four hits and two walks allowed, striking out nine. For a pitcher that averages 90 mph on his fastball, Winans racked a 35% CSW on the strength of his sinker and slider. Pitching "backwards", by establishing the changeup and throwing the sinker and slider off of it, Winans kept New York's hitters off balance all game. He didn't allow an extra base hit until his final inning, and ultimately stranded six hitters on base.

Spencer Strider also gave the Braves much needed length in the nightcap, going seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts and only three hits.

After a Pittsburgh series where most of the starters exited early and no one was able to give the Braves more than five innings, fourteen scoreless innings from your starters for the doubleheader goes a LONG way to keeping Atlanta from being in a bad place between now and the next off day, scheduled for Thursday.

Atlanta's offense was disrespectful to the Mets today

The Atlanta Braves offense has ZERO chill - they scored twenty-seven runs in the two games, most coming in a wild game one.

Atlanta used eleven different batters in game one, and every single one of them finished with at least one hit in the contest.

Leading Atlanta's hitters today were Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson. Ozzie went 3-6 in game one, with two runs scored and six RBIs,and chipped in one more hit and run in game two.

Olson hit two homeruns in game one, his 41st and 42nd of the season, good for a new career high and the MLB lead, by two homers, over Angels DH Shohei Ohtani. Olson added another hit and scored a run in game two, and now has an MLB-leading 105 RBIs on the 2023 season.

Atlanta hit seven home runs on the day and collected twenty-nine hits in their absolute annihilation of the New York Mets.

Nicky Lopez made his Braves debut in style

With Allan Winans getting more than 50% of his outs via ground ball and Atlanta playing two today, manager Brian Snitker decided to give Orlando Arcia the first game off and play trade acquisition Nicky Lopez at short.

Lopez, who is the MLB Leader in Outs Above Average from 2021 to now, flashed the glove consistently in game one as well as showed out at the plate - Lopez was 4-6 with three runs scored and five RBIs, including a 2nd deck BOMB late in the contest.

To top things off, he also pitched the 9th inning of game one with Atlanta up by eighteen runs, walking one but not allowing any runs. He's one of four hitters in MLB to both hit a homerun and pitch a scoreless inning in the same game in 2023, joining Angels DH/SP Shohei Ohtani (August 3rd), Yankees OF Isiah Kiner-Falefa (June 22nd), and Twins 2B Willi Castro (April 20th).

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The Mets had ten hits and three runs across both games of the doubleheader, with all three runs coming in game one. They stranded sixteen runners and went 1-11 with runners in scoring position.

They also committed two errors in the field.

With the two losses, the Mets drop to 52-65 and are 23.5 games back in the National League East. For a team that won over 100 games last season and committed to a record $376M payroll, it's an amazingly bad turn.

You hate to see it...but at the same time, you love to see it.

Let's enjoy the victories with some "Fun Facts":

Fun Fact: Nicky Lopez drove in more runs in today's game one (5) than the entire Mets roster has scored in the SERIES (3).

Fun Fact: The Atlanta Braves scored more runs today (27) than 24 NFL teams did in their preseason opener.

Fun Fact: The Braves have outscored the Mets 34-3 in the last 24 hours, with 40 hits and eight home runs.

What's next for the Atlanta Braves?

The Braves are aiming for the series sweep on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, with RHP Yonny Chirinos taking on RHP Kodai Senga. The game is a national broadcast on ESPN, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM ET. The radio call, with Friend of the Site Ben Ingram, can be heard on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or MLB.com.

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Published Aug 12, 2023