Indecisive pitch call proves crucial in Mets' frustrating 4th straight loss

ATLANTA -- Shortly after the Mets lost a fourth consecutive game for the first time this season, reliever Reed Garrett stood up from his chair, walked over to Francisco Alvarez and wrapped his catcher in a hug.

Alvarez had just spent several minutes taking the blame for the eighth-inning pitch Garrett threw to Marcell Ozuna, which resulted in a tying three-run double in a game the Braves went on to win, 5-4, in the 10th.

Garrett, the only member of the Mets’ staff who calls his own pitches, had been one strike away from escaping a bases-loaded, no-outs jam. When Ozuna hit a check-swing foul on a 2-2 splitter, Garrett believed he could blow a fastball by him. Alvarez thought Ozuna looked so bad on the splitter that he wouldn’t be able to hit another.

Ultimately, Alvarez changed the call. Garrett went with it. Ozuna yanked the splitter just fair down the left-field line at Truist Park, and the Braves later KO’d the Mets on Austin Riley’s walk-off sacrifice fly against Huascar Brazobán.

“It’s easy to look back and think that we threw the wrong pitch,” Garrett said. “But Alvy called my swing-and-miss pitch. We could have executed it a little better. We could have gotten a little bit more lucky.”

“I think he was right,” Alvarez said of Garrett’s initial call. “I changed the pitch. I think I maybe made a mistake in that situation, so I feel very bad for that. I’ve got to stay with him with the fastball. I don’t need to change anything.”

For Alvarez, it was the continuation of what’s been a challenging year. A popular breakout pick entering Spring Training, Alvarez fractured the hamate bone in his left hand in March and missed the first month of the season. He has struggled at the plate since that time, largely due to one of the highest whiff rates in the Majors. Batting in the 10th inning Tuesday with one out and a man in scoring position, Alvarez swung and missed violently on a fastball up in the zone, before popping up on a changeup down the middle. He finished the night with a .636 OPS.

In the bottom of the 10th, Alvarez made what he called “a reaction play” on a Brazobán wild pitch, throwing behind Luke Williams to give him a clear path to third base as the potential winning run. Manager Carlos Mendoza later said he had no issue with that play.

On this night, Mendoza’s only real problem appeared to be with first-base umpire Edwin Jimenez, who signaled a late out call on Ronald Acuña Jr.’s leaping catch of a Pete Alonso fly ball at the right-field wall. Juan Soto, who was doubled off first base as a result, agreed that Jimenez “just took way too long to make the decision, and he put me in a tough spot.”

If these sound like the protestations of a frustrated team, that’s because for the first time this season, the Mets can credibly call themselves one. Fresh off a home sweep at the hands of the Rays, the Mets flew to Atlanta hoping to stymie a Braves club looking to climb back into realistic NL East contention. The Braves rejiggered their rotation for just this occasion, lining up their three best pitchers -- Spencer Schwellenbach, Chris Sale and Spencer Strider -- to face the Mets.

“That’s expected,” Mendoza said before the series opener. “These are important games for them. These are important games for us. Every game counts. I wasn’t surprised at all.”

The Mets handled Schwellenbach about as well as they ever have, taking an early lead on a Soto homer, a Tyrone Taylor two-run double and a Taylor solo shot. But despite another stellar performance from David Peterson, the Braves managed to chip away. Coming off the first shutout of his career, Peterson allowed merely one run over the first seven innings, with a modest enough pitch count for Mendoza to give him the eighth. That’s when Peterson faltered, allowing a leadoff walk and a hit before giving way to Garrett.

Statistically one of the best relievers in all of baseball, Garrett yielded a single to load the bases, then went to work against the meat of Atlanta’s order: three consecutive multi-time All-Stars in Matt Olson, Riley and Ozuna. He struck out Olson on a devilish splitter. He popped up Riley on a cutter. He got to two strikes on Ozuna and called for a fastball.

Alvarez asked for another splitter instead.

“I thought that maybe he saw something that I didn’t see,” Garrett said. “I don’t think it’s the wrong pitch. … I think Alvy’s done a great job calling pitches, and I think he’s a great catcher. That’s kind of the ownership I need to take in calling my own pitches.”