'We got the job done': Nido, 'pen power win

ATLANTA -- Dealing with a banged-up lineup, the Mets relied on their bullpen in a gritty 4-3 victory at Truist Park on Tuesday night. Tomás Nido was the unlikely hero, delivering a solo homer in the top of the ninth inning to clinch the series victory with New York’s second straight win against Atlanta.

With two outs and no one on in the ninth, Nido hit a towering fly ball into the left-field seats to break the 3-3 tie and give the Mets the lead. Over the past two games Nido has come up big for New York, and with Tuesday’s late-game heroics he will continue to challenge starter James McCann for more playing time behind the plate.

“It's awesome," Nido said. "I don’t think anybody’s trying to be the hero, I think we're all just trying to play our part, and when you focus on the task at hand good things happen. It’s a lot of fun playing for this team."

In his second start of the season serving as an “opener,” reliever Miguel Castro took the mound and set the pace with an 11-pitch first inning to retire the side. That set the stage for an effective bullpen game, in which seven relievers held the Braves to three runs on five hits -- two of which were solo home runs.

The Mets have relied on their bullpen through much of the year due to several injuries to starting pitchers, including ace Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Carlos Carrasco and more recently Taijuan Walker, who left Monday’s start after three innings with tightness in his left side.

“We know what we can do. We know when this team is healthy and everybody is full-go we are going to be very dangerous,” said Nido. “Top-to-bottom, guys on the bench, we know where we stand with everybody in the league. We just have to stick together, battle through this, and once we get over that little hump it's gonna be a lot of fun.”

Tommy Hunter relieved Castro, tossing two scoreless innings and notching his first MLB hit in his 14-year career. He was followed by Robert Gsellman (2 IP, 1 R), Trevor May (1 IP, 1 R), Aaron Loup (1 IP, 1 R), Jeurys Familia (1 IP, no runs) and Edwin Díaz, who closed out the game while appearing for the third straight day. Díaz now has seven saves in seven opportunities this year.

“It was really special. Everyone did their job," said Díaz. "We all did the job that we needed to do. The Braves are a great team. They have a great lineup, but we went out there and we went at-bat-for-at-bat and that’s what we did. We got the job done today.”

In the top of the third with none on, Hunter singled on a line drive to left field for his first career big league hit. In the postgame conference Hunter was ecstatic, and said that having his wife and 5-year-old son be able to see his first big league hit was one of the best moments of his career.

“Highlight, hands down best thing," Hunter said. "I have no idea. I jumped on first like a Little Leaguer. It was crazy. That’s the coolest thing I've ever done in the big leagues -- I got a knock in The Show.”

Hunter was the Mets’ first baserunner of the game, with third baseman Jonathan Villar up to the plate. On a 1-1 pitch, Villar hit a long ball to left-center to give the Mets the 2-0 lead. Statcast projected Villar’s home run went 425 feet with an exit velocity of 105.6 mph. With the knock, Villar has three homers and 11 RBIs.

Through the first four innings the Mets bullpen was firing on all cylinders, allowing just one walk and a fielder's choice. Then Austin Riley hit a home run off the first pitch Gsellman tossed in the fifth inning to put the Braves on the board. Despite the home run, Gsellman stayed poised and escaped the inning with minimal damage.

Over the past few games, the Mets have been a prime example of the "next man up" mentality, the result of multiple big league debuts and some unlikely heroes. That includes the debuts of outfielders Khalil Lee and Johneshwy Fargas.

“I think the things that other guys started are being passed to the guys that are coming into play. It doesn’t matter, even the guys coming from the Syracuse roster that we called up, they're in it,” said Mets manager Luis Rojas. “Some guys, they haven’t really been involved that much offensively, but they're playing. They're playing hard, their confidence level [is] high and this is what these two games are doing to the group that is ready to play and will be ready to play tomorrow.”

Although Lee hasn't picked up his first MLB hit, he has still impacted the game defensively. In the bottom of the sixth, after the Braves gained momentum with a Freddie Freeman home run, Lee dazzled the crowd with a diving catch at the warning track to rob Ozzie Albies of an extra-base hit.

“This team has a big heart -- all around it’s a big family, everybody pulling for each other. It’s a long season. Games like this bring us even closer,” said Nido. “So everybody in this clubhouse is willing to do anything and everything to bring home a victory for us.”

In this series, the Mets have accepted the challenge and have refused to back down from their division rival. After capturing the series win on Tuesday, New York now looks for a sweep in Atlanta.