NEW YORK METS (38-32, second place/NL East) at ATLANTA BRAVES (24-47, fifth place/NL East)
Thursday: RHP Matt Harvey (4-9, 4.76) vs. RHP Matt Wisler (3-7, 4.23), 7:10 p.m. ET
Friday: LHP Steven Matz (7-3, 2.74) vs. RHP Aaron Blair (0-4, 7.19), 7:35 p.m. ET
Saturday: RHP Jacob deGrom (3-4, 2.96) vs. RHP Julio Teheran (3-7, 2.66), 7:15 p.m. ET
Sunday: RHP Bartolo Colon (6-3, 3.00) vs. RHP Bud Norris (2-7, 4.69), 1:35 p.m. ET
BRAVES SHORT HOPS
Mallex Smith suffered a fractured left thumb when he was struck by a pitch from Antonio Bastardo on Sunday at Citi Field. Veteran Emilio Bonifacio was promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett to help share the left-field void created by Smith’s injury. Jeff Francoeur, Chase d'Arnaud and Jace Peterson also should see action in left field. Peterson moved into the leadoff spot the last two games, although he started both at second base. Smith is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks.
The Braves, who swept the Mets at Citi Field last weekend, had a six-game winning streak snapped Wednesday afternoon with a 3-0 loss at Miami.
The Braves fired manager Fredi Gonzalez on May 17 after a 9-28 start to the season. Brian Snitker took over as interim manager and is 15-19 at the helm. Snitker served as Atlanta’s third-base coach from 2006 through ’13 and had been serving as the Triple-A club’s manager. Gonzalez’s dismissal wasn’t ideally handled. He reportedly received an email from an airline alerting him that a ticket had been purchased for him to fly back to Atlanta. The Braves had not completed their series in Pittsburgh.
After tormenting the Mets at Citi Field, Freddie Freeman was named National League player of the week on Monday. Freeman batted .548 (17-for-31) with three homers and eight RBIs for the week through Sunday. That included becoming the first player in the majors to hit for the cycle this season when he accomplished the feat last Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds. Freeman finally cooled off against the Marlins, going 1-for-7 with a walk in the two-game series.
Right-hander Tyrell Jenkins made his major league debut Wednesday in Miami with a scoreless relief inning. Jenkins was promoted from Gwinnett last week. He was acquired in the Jason Heyward trade with the St. Louis Cardinals back in November 2014.
Mike Foltynewicz landed on the disabled list on June 4 with bone chips in his right elbow. Four days later, Williams Perez landed on the DL with a right rotator cuff strain. Those injuries resulted in former Mets farmhand John Gant as well as Bud Norris entering the rotation.
Julio Teheran fired a one-hit shutout against the Mets on Sunday while logging 120 pitches.
Adonis Garcia has been out of the starting lineup since last Thursday with left-ankle soreness, although he has twice pinch hit during his absence from third base.
Left-handed reliever Dario Alvarez has struck out nine of the 14 batters he has faced and has yet to allow a hit since making his Braves debut on June 15. Alvarez was claimed off waivers from the Mets on May 25.
METS SHORT HOPS
The Mets suffered a pair of potentially jarring injuries Wednesday. Noah Syndergaard was pulled from his start after six innings because of elbow discomfort. And Yoenis Cespedes departed in that same inning with left wrist discomfort. Both players were sent to the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan for further evaluation.
This will mark the second time in their careers that brothers Travis d'Arnaud and Chase d'Arnaud will be involved in the same series. The siblings also squared off late last season when Chase was a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. Travis d'Arnaud was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday. He had been out since late April because of a rotator cuff strain.
Bartolo Colon was forced to leave Tuesday’s start against the Kansas City Royals after four pitches because a comebacker struck him in the right thumb. X-rays were negative and the Mets announced the injury as a bruise. Manager Terry Collins expressed confidence Colon would make Sunday’s scheduled start.
Steven Matz experienced elbow tightness late in his last start, although the Mets downplayed the significance.
