The Mets, who have struggled to hold opposing base runners all year, allowed a truly embarrassing steal Saturday: The Braves stole what was supposed to be Christian Scott Day and turned it into a nearly historic afternoon for Max Fried & Co.
Fried and two Atlanta relievers far outshined the Queens debut of the promising rookie and recorded 26 outs before finally allowing a hit.
J.D. Martinez’s two-out home run in the ninth provided the Mets a hit, a run and a sidestep of humiliation.
It did not allow the Mets a win, though, falling 4-1 to the Braves in front of 38,919 fans whose silence eventually turned into boos at Citi Field.
Martinez’s blast to right field — his first homer as a Met — avoided the Mets being no-hit for the ninth time in their history.
They have tallied at least one hit in every game since Oct. 3, 2015, when then-National Max Scherzer did the honors, a streak that just barely lives on.
Still, the Mets (18-20) have dropped the first two games of an intriguing, seven-game stretch against the class of the NL East that might be revealing that Carlos Mendoza’s group is indeed playing for a wild card and not the division.
The Braves have played as if they are in a different stratosphere.
The 2024 Mets, who have not seen their offense get going all season, have scored three runs on six hits in 18 innings against the Braves the past two days.
Fried pitched seven dazzling innings in which he walked three, struck out five and was taken out because manager Brian Snitker valued his 109 pitches more than his zero hits allowed.
In the eighth, Joe Jimenez let up a pair of walks that allowed the potential tying run to come to the plate, but Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte both chased sliders for strikeouts.
In the ninth, closer Raisel Iglesias struck out Francisco Lindor and got Pete Alonso to ground out before Martinez allowed the Mets a breath of life.
Jeff McNeil then walked and Harrison Bader grounded an infield single to the right side, but Brett Baty flew out to end it.
The Mets did not have many opportunities against Fried, but they did have a few.
Pete Alonso’s 405-foot drive into deep center in the second inning would have been a home run in six major league parks, according to Statcast — but not at Citi Field, where it went down as a very long out.
Fried walked Tomas Nido and Brandon Nimmo in the third, but Marte struck out to end what qualified as a threat.
After that pair of walks, Fried sat down 11 straight Mets before walking Alonso in the seventh. The next batter, Martinez, drilled a Fried four-seamer to deep center, but the speedy Michael Harris II made a nice running grab before smacking into the wall.
An afternoon when too much went wrong for the Mets included an injury, too: Brandon Nimmo, who arguably has been the team’s most valuable position player, exited after four innings with right intercostal irritation, the Mets said, after an awkward non-swing.
Overshadowed was the home debut of Scott, who pitched well, if not dominantly.
In his second major league start, the 24-year-old allowed three runs on six hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in six-plus innings.
The righty cruised through two innings before stumbling in the third.
Orlando Arcia smoked a two-run home run that hooked just fair down the left-field line for an early lead that was expanded an inning later.
In the fourth, a walk to Austin Riley and a two-out single to Travis d’Arnaud brought up Harris, who smacked an RBI single up the middle for a 3-0 Braves lead.
But Scott, who has been as commended for his makeup as his stuff, battled back and kept the powerhouse Braves scoreless the rest of the way.
