NEW YORK — Eli White homered as he matched his MLB career high with three hits Saturday at Citi Field, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 3-1 win over the New York Mets in a matchup of National League East Division rivals.
White laced an RBI double in the second inning and homered in the fourth before hitting another double in the seventh as the MLB-best Braves halted their second three-game losing streak of the season.
The three-hit game was the fifth of White’s career and first since May 17, 2025.
Atlanta’s Michael Harris II hit a 392-foot homer off the advertising signage along the second deck in right field in the eighth.
Martín Pérez (4-2) allowed one run and struck out four batters in 5 1/3 innings to win his third straight start — the 35-year-old left-hander’s longest streak since he won three consecutive starts for the Texas Rangers from June 21 through July 2 in 2022.
Raisel Iglesias closed out his 14th save of the season by getting Francisco Alvarez, who represented the potential winning run, to hit into a game-ending 1-4-3 double play. Juan Soto’s apparent homer leading off the bottom of the ninth was overturned due to fan interference, sending Soto to second with a double.
Bo Bichette remained hot for the Mets by going 2-for-3 and scoring on Mark Vientos’ sixth-inning single. Bichette is batting .389 (14-for-36) over the past nine games dating to June 3, a span in which he has raised his batting average from .213 to .236.
Sean Manaea (1-1) took the loss in his first start this year for the Mets. The left-hander permitted two runs and struck out six batters in six innings.
The Braves bounced back from Friday’s 3-1 loss in the opener of the three-game series and improved to 46-24. Atlanta has an eight-game lead over the second-place Phillies in the NL East.
The Mets (31-39) sit at the bottom of the division standings, 15 games behind Atlanta.
The scheduled starting pitchers for Sunday’s series finale are right-hander Bryce Elder (5-3, 2.66 ERA) for the Braves and Freddy Peralta (4-5, 4.04) for the Mets.