 to tie it at 4. Riley crushed a soaring shot on the next pitch to put Atlanta ahead.Sean Newcomb (2-0) tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Jackson worked around an error by first baseman Freddie Freeman and a walk, ending it by striking out Dominic Smith on three pitches.New York has dropped 13 of 17, and the club is a season-worst 10 games under .500. The bullpen has blown a major league-most 21 saves in 39 opportunities, and Lugo has squandered a lead in his last three appearances.Ronald Acuna Jr. and Dansby Swanson each had three hits for NL East-leading Atlanta, which improved to 50-34, the fastest the franchise has gotten to 50 wins since 2003.Markakis homered on a 3-0 pitch for the first time in his 14 big league seasons, and Riley skied the 14th shot of his impressive rookie season. The 22-year-old has gone deep in consecutive games for the third time in 42 games.Mazza replaced starter Steven Matz in the third after a rain delay and pitched four innings of one-run ball. That allowed the Mets to rally behind Smith's solo homer, Jeff McNeil's two RBI doubles and Robinson Cano's tiebreaking single.Cano was booed after a strikeout in the second but had his second straight multihit game.Acuna singled and Swanson scored him with a double in the first two plate appearances of Mazza's career, but the 29-year-old right-hander settled in after that. He struck out two and allowed five hits and no walks, letting out a big yell after striking out Tyler Flowers to end the sixth.Mazza, a relative of Yankees great Joe DiMaggio, was in his eighth minor league season before being called up. He pitched in the independent Atlantic League and Pacific Association last season. His parents were in the stands cheering Saturday.FETE THE METSFifteen members of the Miracle Mets paraded down Seaver Way in classic cars, received keys to New York City from Mayor Bill de Blasio and told the same stories for what felt like the millionth time.''This will be a million and one,'' joked outfielder Cleon Jones.The loudest cheers came for the family of ace Tom Seaver, who had the street outside the stadium renamed in his honor Thursday and will get a statue outside the stadium. The 74-year-old Seaver has dementia and could not attend.''The thing that hurts the most is that he wasn't there,'' said catcher Jerry Grote, choking back tears when asked about his ex-battery mate.INJURED UMPPlate umpire Bill Welke left after being struck in the mask by a foul ball. Welke was hit in the fifth inning and exited after the sixth. Second base umpire Roberto Ortiz moved behind the plate, and the crew continued the game with three umpires.TRAINER'S ROOMBraves: Albies was pulled in the sixth after being hit by a pitch on his left arm. He was visited by a trainer and remained in the game to run the bases, but was replaced on defense for the bottom of the inning.Mets: RHP Jeurys Familia (shoulder) came out of Friday night's rehab appearance with Class A Brooklyn feeling well. The team is considering whether to give him another tuneup. ... LHP Justin Wilson (elbow soreness) will throw a bullpen Sunday and could begin a rehab assignment after that.UP NEXTMets RHP Noah Syndergaard (5-4, 4.55 ERA) is set to come off the injured list to face Braves LHP Max Fried (9-3, 3.96) in the series finale Sunday night.---Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake-Seiner---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Mets look to end skid against Braves, TeheranFLMThe Atlanta Braves come to the park every day wondering which role player will chip in to a victory. The New York Mets are playing as if they come to the park every day wondering which reliever will cough up the back-breaking hit.The Mets will look to snap out of a season-threatening funk Saturday afternoon as they host the Braves in the middle game of a three-game series. Left-hander Steven Matz (5-6, 4.85 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for New York against Atlanta right-hander Julio Teheran (5-6, 3.94).The Braves and Mets continued going in opposite directions Friday night, when Atlanta reliever Anthony Swarzak wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh and Johan Camargo iced the game with a three-run double in the eighth inning of a 6-2 victory.New York took its sixth loss in a row while Atlanta won for the third time in four games.Swarzak inherited a two-on, one-out jam from winning pitcher Mike Soroka and promptly loaded the bases when the first batter he faced, pinch hitter J. D. Davis, beat out an infield single. But Swarzak then struck out Jeff McNeil and got dangerous rookie Pete Alonso to line out to left.The hold was the 10th in 17 appearances with the Braves for Swarzak, who has allowed just one run in 17 1/3 innings since he was acquired in a deal with the Seattle Mariners on May 20.The hit by Camargo, meanwhile, was his first as a starter since May 12 for the Braves, who have baseball's best record in June, 19-7."It doesn't matter who it is, what time of the game it is, somebody's going to come up big for us," Braves rookie left fielder Austin Riley told reporters.Watching Swarzak -- who posted a 6.15 ERA in 29 games for the Mets last season before being traded to the Mariners in the deal that brought back the scuffling Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz -- escape the seventh inning had to be particularly frustrating for New York, which is down to zero reliable relievers.Mets relievers have recorded the worst ERA (7.98) in baseball this month. Not surprisingly, New York has the worst record in the NL in June, 9-17."What happened in the past shouldn't dictate what's going to happen today," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "It can get the psyche of a group that 'Oh, here we go again.' But we shouldn't allow that to happen." Both Matz and Teheran lost for the second straight start on Monday.Matz gave up seven runs over 4 1/3 innings as the Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 13-7. He has allowed 12 runs over 9 1/3 innings in his past two starts as his overall ERA has risen from 3.93 to 4.85.Teheran surrendered seven runs over four innings as the Braves were beaten by the Chicago Cubs 8-3. He has given up 13 runs over eight innings in his past two starts as his overall ERA has risen from 2.92 to 3.94.Matz is 5-1 with a 3.40 ERA in nine career starts against the Braves. Teheran is 10-8 with a 2.62 ERA in 27 appearances (26 starts) against the Mets.--Field Level Media
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