Mets pass Braves in NL wild-card battle, Senga gets injured again, Martinez hits slam in 8-4 win

NEW YORK — The New York Mets have passed the Braves in the battle for the first wild-card spot in the NL. They defeated Atlanta 8-4 on Friday night thanks to a seven-run third-inning grand slam by JD Martinez, but lost Kodai Senga in his season debut to a new injury.

Martinez’s ninth slam was the first of three long balls in the third inning against Charlie Morton (5-6), who also allowed a two-run homer by Mark Vientos and a solo drive by Francisco Alvarez before a frenzied crowd of 34,673 that included fans dressed as Grimace and Spiderman.

“It was fun, a little crazy,” Martinez said.

New York (55-48) won its fifth straight game and moved to a season-high seven games above .500 after its 11th win in 14 games. The Mets had trailed the Braves by 10 games on June 2 and are 31-13 since then.

“It feels great, that’s for sure,” Vientos said. “A few months ago, everyone was down in the dumps. Now, it’s a different picture. There’s still a lot of baseball left. All we can do is pat ourselves on the back and get back to work.”

Atlanta (54-48) has lost six games in a row, the longest losing streak since a six-game losing streak from Sept. 25-30, 2017, the final week of Brian Snitker’s first full season as manager.

“It’s not fun having to go through this, I can tell you that,” Snitker said.

Senga’s injury-delayed season debut was cut short after 5 1/3 innings and 73 pitches when he sprained his left calf. After prompting Austin Riley to leap to his feet to start the sixth, Senga (1-0) pointed to Pete Alonso and began sprinting off the mound to make room for the first baseman. The 31-year-old right-handed pitcher grabbed his left calf and bounced a few steps before falling.

Senga will have an MRI on Saturday.

“It’s a tough piece to lose,” Martinez said. “He’s going to do everything he can to come back and hopefully be back for the playoffs. But there’s still a lot of baseball left, so we just have to keep it going.”

Senga, who missed the first 102 games with a right shoulder capsule injury, allowed just two hits — including Adam Duvall’s two-run homer in the second inning — and struck out nine. He retired his final 10 batters.

“Pretty impressive — nasty,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “The longevity of the fastball — it’s an easy 96 (mph) and then he’s got 98 in the tank if he needs it. The splitter, the cutter. There’s so much movement in his pitches.”

Senga finished second to Arizona’s Corbin Carroll in NL Rookie of the Year voting last season, going 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts after signing a five-year, $75 million contract.

Duvall also homered against Jake Diekman in the ninth inning for his 13th multihomer game. Marcell Ozuna homered against Eric Orze in the sixth.

Morton allowed seven runs (five earned) and six hits in a 2 2/3 inning, his brief appearance since Sept. 22 of last year. Riley botched Tyrone Taylor’s leadoff grounder to third base and made an error.

“The inning started off weird with an error,” Snitker said. “Just couldn’t stop the bleeding.”

Braves: OF Michael Harris II (left hamstring strain) said he’s feeling better after a setback in his recovery this month. Harris hopes to return soon after becoming eligible Aug. 14.

Mets: RHP Dedniel Núñez (right pronator strain) was placed on the 15-day injured list. Manager Carlos Mendoza said Núñez, a rookie who is 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA and one save, underwent an MRI that revealed no ligament damage.

Mets RHP Tylor Megill (2-4, 5.08 ERA) returns to the majors on Saturday to face Braves RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (3-5, 4.62 ERA).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb