Mets Back to Winning, Down Braves

The Mets got back to their winning ways Monday, downing the pathetic Braves and lowering the magic number to clinch the NL East to seven.

The Mets loaded the bases with no outs in the first. With one out Travis d’Arnaud grounded out. Curtis Granderson scored to make it 1-0, but Daniel Murphy got caught between second and third and was tagged out to end the inning.

Michael Conforto hit his eighth homer of the season in the second to make it 2-0.

Murphy made up for his poor base running and doubled home two more runs in the seventh to extend the lead to 4-0.

Jonathon Niese went six solid innings as he bids for a spot on the post-season roster. He threw six shutout innings, allowing just three hits with two strikeouts and a pair of walks. He upped his record to 9-10.

Addison Reed, Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia pitched the seventh, eighth and ninth innings respectively to close things out. This is likely the combination we will be seeing down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Oh, and Yoenis Cespedes is also back to normal, going 3-4 with two doubles.

Mets win 4-0. The Nationals were rained out in Baltimore, so they had to sit and watch the Mets hammer another nail in their coffin.