Mets tasked with closing gap against Braves in 2024 

ATLANTA -- Shortly after the Mets’ 10th and final loss against the Braves this season, Atlanta’s mascot -- an unidentified species of furry creature named Blooper -- loitered outside the visiting clubhouse at Truist Park. The beast was in fine spirits, joking with reporters and delivering a message for Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen, who had criticized it on air earlier in the week.

Blooper’s Braves had reason for joviality. They had long since won the season series, long since wrapped up the National League East for all intents and purposes, long since relegated their rivals to a place well below them in the division standings.

New York's 7-0 loss on Wednesday night in the rubber game simply sealed the deal, completing the season series with a 10-3 record in favor of Atlanta.

It was, in effect, an extension of last September and October, when the Braves swept the Mets at Trust Park to take control of the NL East. Up until that point, New York had held a winning record on the season against its longtime antagonists.

The tenor of the rivalry has since relapsed to its default.

“They were better than us. Flat-out, they were better than us,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “They played better than us every single time we played them. You’ve got to give them credit. They’re a really good team.

“It’s a little bit disappointing because you want to play better against your division.”

New York’s 10th loss to the Braves was similar to so many others for a team that struggled to produce anything offensively against Charlie Morton and two relievers. The Mets’ own starting pitcher, José Quintana, regressed to the mean in allowing five runs over 5 1/3 innings, though he’s far from the only pitcher Atlanta’s record-setting offense has punished.

“They are really good,” Quintana said. “The lineup is a really good challenge.”

It was not so long ago that the Mets found themselves on a similar plane. Last year, as manager Buck Showalter has noted numerous times when asked about this matchup, the Mets won as many games as the Braves. Only by sweeping its rivals to begin the final week of the season did Atlanta manage to take the season series, secure the NL East tiebreaker and use it to win the division.

October wound up being disappointing for both clubs, which returned in April set to battle again. Only this time, the Braves began winning early and often, while the Mets stumbled to such an extent that they ultimately sold off parts prior to the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline.

Now, New York is on a 75-win pace while Atlanta looks even stronger than last year, on track to win 105 games.

“It’s a good team,” Showalter said. “We were … what, one game from them last year? This year, it hasn’t been the case, so we’ll have to figure out a way to make up the difference.”

Considering how wide the gulf has become, it remains to be seen if the Mets can accomplish that goal in a single offseason. Owner Steve Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler have promised a competitive roster in 2024, while also cautioning not to expect as splashy an offseason as usual.

The Braves, meanwhile, expect nearly all their most important pieces to return, including Morton, Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, Austin Riley and even Marcell Ozuna, the latter of whom went 8-for-11 with four homers and seven RBIs in this three-game series at Truist Park.

None of this is entirely new. Since the 1990s, the Braves have routinely tormented the Mets, so it perhaps felt appropriate that Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz were all on hand for the finale as part of Bally Sports’ broadcast team.

The Mets don’t want those ghosts of seasons past to continue spooking them. They retain hope that they can topple their rivals sooner rather than later. But until they actually do it, the specter of the Braves will continue to loom over them.

“They’re a 100-win team,” Lindor said. “We saw last year that we were a 100-win team, and then this year, we’re not. Things can change very quick. With that being said, we’re nowhere near a 100-win team this year, so we’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot of looking at ourselves in the mirror and trying to be better.”