Braves blow lead in the 11th in 7-6 loss to Mets

The Atlanta Braves rallied in the 11th to take a 6-4 lead but a three-run blast from Dominic Smith in the bottom half of the inning sealed their fate in a 7-6 loss to the Mets.

The Braves jumped out to an early lead against Noah Syndergaard as former Met Adeiny Hechavarria drove home Dansby Swanson to put Atlanta up 1-0. The Mets would answer back quickly against Mike Soroka who was making his first start in 10-days.

Pete Alonso singled and then moved up to third on a single by Michael Conforto. Robinson Cano then tied the game with a sacrifice fly. J.D. Davis then followed with a two-run bomb to center that put New York in front 3-1.

That score would hold until the fourth. Matt Joyce blooped a two-out single off of Syndergaard and then came home on a two-run home run by Rafael Ortega that tied the game at 3-3.

Soroka settled down after that rocky first inning allowing seven hits and three runs over five innings. He struck out seven and walked two while throwing 85 pitches. Soroka is lined up to start Game 3 of the Division Series in St. Louis.

Syndergaard turned in a good performance as well allowing five hits and three runs over seven innings. He walked two and struck out nine.

Joe Panik put the Mets back in front in the eighth with a solo home run to right off of Shane Greene. The Braves as they have done so many times answered back in the ninth as Hechavarria drove one out to left off of Paul Sewald to tie the game 4-4.

Hechavarria wasn’t finished however as would strike again jumping on a hanging breaking ball from Walker Lockett and driving it into the the second deck in left to put the Braves back in front. Adam Duvall would follow with a homer of his own to push the lead to 6-4.

The Mets however wouldn’t go away. Luis Guillermo singled off of Jerry Blevins to lead off the inning. Blevins then struck out Tomas Nido before giving way to Anthony Swarzak who would face pinch hitter Wilson Ramos. Ramos singled through the hole on the left side that was just out of the reach of Swanson. Swarzak would then strikeout Rene Rivera for the second out of the inning. Brian Snitker would again play the matchups replacing Swarzak with lefty Grant Dayton to face Smith who turned around a 1-0 fastball and drove it into right center for the walk-off winner.

Hechavarria had himself quite a day going 3-for-5 with a pair of homers and three RBIs against his former club.

Freddie Freeman started on Sunday and went 1-for-2 at the plate before being replaced by Austin Riley. Freeman talked about his troublesome elbow before the game and said that it wasn’t a concern but it is something that will likely remain a discussion point until the offseason. Nick Markakis went 0-for-3 and will end the season with 499 career doubles.

The Braves will enjoy an off day on Monday before a pair of workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday at SunTrust Park. The NL Division Series against the Cardinals will begin on Thursday.