None of it mattered much by the end of the night. The Braves did what they'd done for most of the week — find enough offense to make the pitching matchup a footnote — and shut the door on a series that had gone back and forth.
Atlanta chipped away early, scratching across single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th before the game really got away from the Mets. A 3-run 7th put the finishing touches on a 12-hit night, while New York's offense stayed quiet until single runs in the 6th, 7th and 9th made the final score look closer than the game ever felt.
The result fits the shape of both seasons right now. The Mets are buried under .500 and playing out the string, while the Braves keep piling up wins and have now taken 2 of the first 3 in this set after dropping the opener earlier in the week.
New York's not getting healthier anytime soon, either. Soto has said he expects to play again this season, but nobody's penciling him back in before September, and the Mets' bullpen is already down 3 arms to injury. Atlanta's dealing with its own list of wounded pitchers, but the difference is depth — the Braves had enough to plug the holes and still win series.
For the Mets, it's another game to file away and forget in a season that's stopped being about winning and started being about evaluation. For the Braves, it's 1 more series banked in a stretch run that's starting to feel inevitable.