NEW YORK — A.J. Ewing finished a triple shy of the cycle to help the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 8-1 on Sunday at Citi Field, handing the team with the best record in Major League Baseball its second consecutive series loss.
Ewing had an unusual RBI double during a four-run first inning against Bryce Elder to help the last-place Mets (32-39) take two of three games from National League East Division leader Atlanta (46-25). The rookie outfielder also singled in the third and homered in the fifth. He grounded out in the seventh and struck out in the eighth.
Jared Young preceded Ewing in the first with a run-scoring single and came around to score when Mike Yastrzemski’s throw from left field following Ewing’s double caromed off the pole holding up the netting behind the third base line. Brett Baty added an RBI single two batters later.
Ewing and Marcus Semien homered on consecutive pitches to open the fifth, and Juan Soto delivered a two-run single in the eighth.
Freddy Peralta (5-5) allowed one run and four hits in five innings for the win. The Braves loaded the bases with nobody out in the first against Peralta, who limited the damage to Dominic Smith’s sacrifice fly.
Elder (5-4) set season highs by permitting six runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings.
The Braves dropped only two of their first 20 series this season before being swept by the Chicago White Sox in a rain-shortened, two-game set prior to arriving in New York.
The Mets are 14 games behind the Braves, who have an eight-game division lead over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies.
Fans in New York Knicks garb dotted the Citi Field crowd of 40,106, which roared when highlights of that team’s title-clinching 94-90 win Saturday night over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals were shown on the videoboard throughout the game.
The Braves are off Monday before starting a three-game series against the NL West’s San Francisco Giants (29-43), who are in the first season with former University of Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello as manager. The scheduled starting pitchers for Tuesday’s opener are right-handers Grant Holmes (4-2, 4.05 ERA) for the Braves and Adrian Houser (2-6, 5.54) for the Giants.