ATLANTA — The Truist Park Mets series opened with a five-run first and a night Atlanta’s starter will want back.
ESPN’s game recap says the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 8-5 on Monday night at Truist Park. Brett Baty hit the first grand slam of his career in the first inning off Bryce Elder, and New York held on for its sixth win in seven games. The Athletic’s box listed Atlanta at 71-48 after the loss (Elder the decision) and New York at 53-67 in some standings snapshots after the win.
How the first inning got away
ESPN’s account of the top of the first is the load-bearing public record:
- Bo Bichette singled home a run early in the frame.
- On a 3-2 pitch to Carson Benge, Bichette was initially caught stealing, but the pitch was called a ball — wiping out the out.
- Replays suggested strike; Elder tapped for an ABS challenge that was not granted.
- Three batters later, Baty homered to center for a grand slam and a 5-0 Mets lead.
Elder (listed 8-7 after the loss in the ESPN writeup) could not match the three prior starts in which he had allowed just one run each outing. The Athletic’s pitching line on Elder showed 5.0 IP, 7 ER, 4 K on 105 pitches (62 strikes). Kodai Senga’s line on the same box was a 1.0 IP save with two strikeouts.
What the final lines said
The Athletic’s inning table had New York finishing 8 runs on 12 hits and Atlanta 5 runs on 9 hits, neither side with an error. Scoring was front-loaded for the Mets (a big first) with Atlanta answering across later innings but never fully erasing the early deficit. Christian Scott started for New York in pregame listings; Duarte was credited with the win in ESPN’s summary card on some scoreboard snapshots.
Standings after a series-opening loss
Atlanta remains first in the NL East after Monday. ESPN’s pregame NL East table still had the Braves clear of Philadelphia by a large margin entering the night; the loss drops the club to 71-48 without changing the division math overnight. The Mets stay deep in fifth but keep a hot short-term run alive into Tuesday’s middle game of the set.
What travels without invented quotes
No clubhouse monologue is required. The verified public record is: final 8-5 Mets; Baty’s first career grand slam in the first off Elder; the disputed 3-2 count / ABS challenge sequence that kept the inning alive; Elder’s five-inning, seven-earned line; Atlanta 71-48 after the loss; series continues Tuesday night at Truist.
WACN 21 will update from official box scores as the Mets series continues.