Baty's 407-Foot Bomb Breaks Atlanta Early, Mets Roll 8-5

Brett Baty hit a 407-foot grand slam in the first inning that swung Atlanta's win probability from 51% to 20%, and the Mets never looked back. New York beat Atlanta 8-5 on August 10, with Francisco Lindor adding a 420-foot solo shot and finishing 3-for-5 with three runs scored.

The game was effectively decided before Atlanta's starter had recorded a single out. Bichette singled to left to score Ewing and make it 1-0, and then Baty unloaded — a 407-foot shot to center that scored Bichette, Benge, and Young, pushing the Mets to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. The win probability swung from 51% to 20% on that single swing. Atlanta clawed back two runs in the same frame when Dubón singled to left, scoring Baldwin and Olson, but the deficit was already steep enough to look like a mountain.

New York kept building. Lindor scored on a Young single in the second to make it 6-2, then Lindor went deep himself in the third — 420 feet to right — for a 7-2 cushion. Atlanta made things interesting in the fourth and fifth, with Baldwin and Acuña Jr. each singling in runs to trim the gap, and a pair of wild pitches by Pintaro allowed Harris II to score, pulling Atlanta to within 7-5. That stretch appeared to give the home side some life, but New York's bullpen steadied things. Daniel Duarte threw two scoreless innings without allowing a hit, and Nate Lavender worked a clean ninth with two strikeouts. The Mets added an insurance run in the ninth when Young hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Lindor for the 8-5 final.

The story of the night was the Mets' ability to absorb Atlanta's mid-game surge without flinching. Christian Scott allowed 7 hits and 4 earned runs over 4 innings — not a dominant outing — but the early run support made it survivable. Baty's 4 RBI on a single swing looks like the kind of play that defines a win, and Lindor's 3-for-5, three-run, one-homer night was the engine that kept New York's offense humming from top to bottom. For Atlanta, Dubón's 2-RBI single and Baldwin's 2-for-5 effort were bright spots, but the Braves simply couldn't overcome the first-inning hole Baty dug for them.