Mets at Braves
Josh Donaldson is red hot since an ejection last week, and has helped catapult the surging Atlanta Braves into first place in the National League East entering Monday’s home series opener against the New York Mets. The veteran third baseman, who was tossed out of a game June 10, homered in all three weekend games against Philadelphia as Atlanta won two-of-three in the series, expanding its division advantage to 2 1/2 games while improving to 9-1 in its past 10 contests.
Donaldson finished 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in Sunday’s 15-1 rout of Philadelphia and is hitting .370 with four homers and eight RBIs in his last six games for an Atlanta offense that is averaging 7.5 runs and 10.7 hits per contest in June while going 12-3 with 32 home runs. The Mets arrive after a rough weekend during which they dropped three of four at home to St. Louis, saw starter Noah Syndergaard land on the injured list with a right hamstring strain and lost starter Jason Vargas after four innings Sunday due to a left calf cramp. New York’s bullpen took the loss in all three defeats to St. Louis and brings a 5.17 ERA into the start of an 11-game road trip after Chris Flexen gave up the go-ahead homer in the eighth Sunday. One bit of positive news for New York, which has lost 18 of its past 23 games away from home, is that second baseman Robinson Cano returned from the injured list (strained right quadriceps) and went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored Sunday.
TV: 7:20 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), FS Southeast (Atlanta)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Zack Wheeler (5-4, 4.87 ERA) vs. Braves RH Mike Soroka (7-1, 1.92)
Wheeler started the month with a strong outing June 6 against San Francisco, allowing three runs on three hits over seven innings, but was pounded for nine runs (five earned) on 10 hits across 4 2/3 frames five days later against the New York Yankees. The 29-year-old native of the Atlanta suburbs has pitched well against the Braves in his career, going 6-3 with a 3.19 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 11 starts. Wheeler beat the Braves in Atlanta on April 12, giving up two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts across six innings, but overall has surrendered 10 homers in his past 39 innings.
Soroka endured his worst start of the season Wednesday against Pittsburgh, giving up season highs in runs (five) and hits (10) across a season low-tying five innings. The 21-year-old remains one of the breakout pitching stars in the NL this season, entering Sunday second in the league in ERA, third in hits per nine innings (6.9) and fourth in WHIP (0.96). Soroka beat the Mets in his major-league debut last May and is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA in two lifetime appearances against New York.
WALK-OFFS
1. New York’s streak of hitting at least one homer ended at 13 games Sunday,
2. Atlanta CF Ronald Acuna Jr. extended his hit streak to eight games Sunday by going 4-for-5 with a homer, four runs scored and two RBIs, and in his past 16 games is batting .370 with four doubles, five homers, 16 RBIs and 14 runs scored.
3. Mets RF Michael Conforto went 1-for-4 Sunday to extend his on-base streak to 11 straight games and is batting .283 with eight runs scored, three homers and seven RBIs during that streak.