Baseball

Kodai Senga Whiffed Seven in Six Innings; Mets Beat Braves 7-6

AP Photo/Adam Hunger
New York Mets pitcher Kodai Senga, of Japan, throws against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, in New York.

11:50 JST, August 14, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — Rafael Ortega had two hits during a six-run fifth inning Sunday night, leading the New York Mets to a 7-6 win over the majors-best Atlanta Braves and preventing New York from falling into last place in the NL East.

The Mets, who were outscored 34-3 in the first three games of the series, moved a half-game ahead of the Washington Nationals. New York hasn’t been in the cellar this late in the season since 2005.

Ortega singled leading off the fifth and hit a two-run single to complete a rally that included four singles and three walks — two with the bases loaded — and a run-scoring catcher’s interference call on the Braves’ Sean Murphy.

Ortega finished with three hits, one shy of his career high. Jeff McNeil had three singles, including a run-scoring hit in the third.

Kodai Senga (9-6) allowed three runs — all in the first via Marcell Ozuna’s bases-clearing double — and whiffed seven in six innings.

AP Photo/Adam Hunger
New York Mets pitcher Kodai Senga, of Japan, throws against the Atlanta Braves during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, in New York.

Murphy led off the seventh with a homer and Matt Olson pulled the Braves within a run with his major league-leading 43rd homer, a two-run shot, in the eighth. Atlanta leads the majors with 227 homers.

Drew Smith got the final out of the eighth and Adam Ottavino notched his seventh save with a perfect ninth.

Yonny Chirinos (5-5) gave up six runs in 4 2/3 innings.