ATLANTA — The Mets had this going for them Wednesday night: Their run differential didn’t suffer much.
So maybe this 3-1 loss to the Braves at Turner Field was actually a win for the Mets, but the crowd of 23,601 just didn’t know it.
Despite general manager Sandy Alderson’s assertion earlier in the day the Mets are a better team than their record shows, based on their runs differential this season of minus-four (now minus-six), the cold facts are these:
— The Mets lost six of seven games on this road trip.
— They are a season’s worst 11 games below .500.
— They are a half-game from the NL East cellar and 10 games behind the first-place Braves.
“We’ve got to quit worrying about the standings,” manager Terry Collins said after the Braves finished the three-game sweep. “We’ve got to start winning. That takes care of everything. If you look at the standings, that isn’t going to help. You’ve got to go play.”
Earlier in the day, Alderson told CBSsports.com: “We kind of like our team. If you look at the run differential, we should be a .500 team. We’re not. At the same time, it doesn’t mean we should throw everyone overboard.”
Collins was unaware of Alderson’s comments until he was asked after Wednesday’s game if he agreed with the GM’s assessment.
“We’re getting beat, but we’re in games that we just can’t get over the top,” Collins said. “If we’re looking up and we’re getting beat by four and five runs a night, I would probably have something different to say. Win or lose, we’re in the ballpark. We just can’t finish it off.”
On Wednesday, the Mets had to settle for five hits against Julio Teheran and the Braves bullpen to complete a road trip in which they averaged 2.7 runs per game. The Mets (37-48) will start a 10-game homestand on Friday that leads into the All-Star break. Thursday qualifies as momentum for the Mets in that they don’t have a game.
The Mets have a rallying cry in that David Wright, who missed the last six games resting a bruised rotator cuff in his left shoulder, is expected back in the lineup Friday.
“We’re getting David back, so that is a boost,” Lucas Duda said. “Losing him is a huge blow. Get him back and get on the right track.”
Jacob deGrom (1-5) recovered from a sluggish first inning in which he allowed three runs and got the Mets through the fifth. The right-hander allowed six hits, struck out eight and walked two, departing with the Mets in a 3-1 hole.
Eric Young Jr. wasted his leadoff single in the sixth by getting picked off. Juan Lagares later singled and Curtis Granderson walked, but Eric Campbell struck out to leave both stranded.
The Mets argued Teheran had committed a balk in the pickoff of Young, but the complaint went nowhere.
“You can watch the replay — a lot of body parts moving,” Young said.
Granderson’s sacrifice fly in the fourth got the Mets their only run after Young singled, stole second and reached third on a wild pitch.
Chris Johnson’s three-run double in the first put the Mets in an early hole. DeGrom allowed a leadoff single to B.J. Upton and walked Andrelton Simmons and Freddie Freeman to load the bases before getting two outs. But Johnson hit a line-shot through Campbell at third base, allowing all three runners to score.
“I felt good,” deGrom said. “I think I was a little amped up and tried to overthrow it a little bit in the first. To recover from that was good. I wanted to at least get to five, and I knew I had a lot of pitches in that first inning.”