Mets vs Braves: 3 bold predictions for vital NL East series

2. Brian Snitker makes a bullpen decision worse than Fredi Gonzalez ever did

It is only fitting to counterbalance the game in which Robinson Cano comes up big that Brian Snitker will concede one Atlanta should have won over these Mets. Forever addicted to the infield shift like it is a pot of Morning Joe, Snitker will leave his starting pitcher in too long and put his bullpen in a bad spot. While the Braves will get out of the jam, the damage will already be done.

In what was a winnable game that is now too close for comfort, Snitker will decide to hand the ball to someone like Will Smith or something vs. Pete Alonso late in the game. Not sure if there will be runners on base, but the Polar Bear will crush a baseball to Smyrna faster than you can say Chattahoochee Falls. Everybody but Smith and Snitker could have foreseen this from a mile away.

Although it may not be the deciding blow in the ballgame, it will crush Atlanta’s spirit in a game where the Braves largely outperformed the Mets. It will have utterly wasted a quality start from one of Atlanta’s better pitchers. Though the Braves will try their luck to put a few runs across in the bottom of the ninth inning, the echoes of Alonso’s blast will be ringing throughout The Battery.

The big fly off the Mets’ first baseman’s bat will have everybody thinking about October baseball.