The Mets fielded a makeshift lineup Saturday afternoon that barely would have met requirements for a road game in spring training, much less an August clash against the team with the best record in baseball.
Results aren’t always predictable in an unpredictable game, but this purported mismatch stayed fully on script as the Mets were outclassed for the second straight game by the Braves in a humiliating 21-3 loss in the opener of a day-night doubleheader at Citi Field.
Former Mets farmhand Allan Winans, who was left unprotected and then selected by the Braves in the 2021 Rule 5 draft, throttled a further depleted lineup that was without injured starters Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo.
Winans allowed no runs on four hits over seven innings in his second big league start, but the Mets avoided a second consecutive shutout on Daniel Vogelbach’s three-run homer in the eighth inning.
The MLB-leading Braves (74-41) followed up their 7-0 pounding of the Mets on Friday night by scoring five runs on eight hits against fill-in starter Denyi Reyes during his 4 ²/₃ innings of work.
Relievers Reed Garrett and Josh Walker and position player Danny Mendick were rocked for 16 additional runs — eight in the ninth inning against Mendick — and six home runs, including two by MLB leader Matt Olson.
MLB strikeout leader Spencer Strider was slated to oppose Mets lefty Jose Quintana in the nightcap.
The 26-year-old Reyes, who was signed as a free agent last winter, opened the season in the Mets’ bullpen, posting five scoreless relief appearances in April.
His lone start for the Mets, on May 1 against the Braves, didn’t go as well.
The righty was knocked out of that game before he recorded an out in the second inning, and allowed five earned runs and two home runs in a 9-8 Mets loss.
This time, Reyes survived a rocky opening inning, with only one run crossing the plate.
Marcell Ozuna lined into an inning-ending double play to fill-in shortstop Jonathan Aruaz.
Ronald Acuña Jr. had opened the game with an infield single before stealing his MLB-leading 54th base and scoring on a single to right by Austin Riley.
The Mets, who have lost nine of 11 since selling at the Aug. 1 trade deadline, loaded the bases against Winans in the bottom half, but their 2018 17th-round draft pick struck out Abraham Almonte for the final out of the inning.
Doubles by Eddie Rosario and Nicky Lopez against Reyes in the second inning boosted the Braves’ advantage to 2-0.
The Mets didn’t register a hit against Winans until Vogelbach’s single to left with one out in the fourth inning.
By then, they trailed 5-0, after Lopez had another RBI hit in the top half of the fourth and Ozzie Albies drove in two more with a single to right later in the inning.
Olson clubbed his MLB-leading 41st and 42nd homers of the season in the sixth and eighth innings, respectively.
Albies also went deep in the seventh to push the Mets’ deficit into double digits.
Sean Murphy also homered in the eighth, prompting manager Buck Showalter to bring in Mendick, who yielded two more homers, to Riley and Lopez, in the ninth.
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