NEW YORK -- It was Christmas in July during the second game of a split doubleheader between the Braves and Mets on Wednesday night. The fans at Citi Field received an early stocking stuffer by watching a fascinating pitchers' duel between Atlanta’s Chris Sale and New York’s Christian Scott. When it was over, the Mets lost the game, 1-0, to split the twin bill.
In the first game, Mets outfielder Carson Benge drove in the go-ahead run with a double against Braves left-hander Dylan Dodd in a 3-2 victory.
Scott pitched a season-high six innings in the nightcap, allowed a run on five hits and struck out seven. He had 14 swings and misses, the fourth most in a game of Scott's career and the second most this season. His only blemish came in his last inning, when he allowed an RBI single to Matt Olson, scoring Jim Jarvis.
Most impressive was that Scott was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth frame. With two outs, he induced Mauricio Dubón to fly out to center fielder Luis Robert Jr. to end the threat.
“I just kept making pitches,” Scott said. “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel with guys on base. They made some good contact. There were a couple of pitches I wish I had back. But I kept pounding the strike zone, and I’m going to make them beat me. That was my plan the whole game. I kept doing that.”
In his last six starts, Scott has allowed one or fewer runs three times and has pitched to a 2.83 ERA (nine earned runs in 28 2/3 innings) with 38 strikeouts. He has allowed four or fewer runs in each of his 24 Major League starts. Scott is the only Met to accomplish the feat and one of just six pitchers in Major League history to do so.
Manager Andy Green has observed Scott since the latter was in the Minor Leagues. Green called Scott the same strike-thrower dating back to 2021.
“He has a live fastball. He has added some depth spin, occasionally throwing a curveball that is relatively new to him," Green said. “That’s a nice wrinkle to have. I think he knows he belongs on a big league mound and knows he can go toe-to-toe with the best in the league. He expects to win those games. That’s impressive.”
Scott was efficient during his first four innings against the Braves, throwing 43 pitches. But Atlanta made him work during his final two frames, as he threw 55 pitches before leaving the game in favor of left-hander A.J. Minter.
“I thought he was great. The six innings was as far as he was pushed [this season]. To get that out with the bases loaded in the sixth was huge,” Green said. “It kept us in the game. It gave us a chance to win. He was pretty dominant, only one walk, tons of strikes. He really filled up the zone. He went toe-to-toe with one of the best in the league today.”
Scott was most pleased with the way he attacked the strike zone early in the game.
“I put [the Braves] on their heels. I was able to expand when I needed to,” he said.
The Mets collected just two hits against Sale, who struck out nine. New York didn't advance a runner past first base against the left-hander. It marked the fourth time he has thrown at least six innings and allowed two or fewer hits in a start this season, tied for the second-most in the Majors. Three of those outings have been scoreless.
“[Sale] had impressive command,” Green said. “He had impressive command on the inner corner [of the plate] to righties. He is just driving his heater there. He commanded as well as you possibly could with some near misses in and off [the plate] to keep you honest. He was just dotting that corner all day. He did enough where there’s the slider and changeup to keep you honest. He was really good today.”