http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/sports/baseball/new-york-mets-atlanta-braves-noah-syndergaard.html 2016-09-20 10:07:36 Noah Syndergaard Stumbles en Route to a Potential Wild-Card Start After a powerful display in the first, a rested Syndergaard regressed, giving up five runs before being pulled after three and two-thirds innings. === When the Because of the Mets’ day off last Thursday, Noah Syndergaard could have started Sunday against Minnesota — a game the Mets won, 3-2 — on regular rest. But instead, the Mets took the opportunity to give Syndergaard the extra day of rest. They had two good reasons. First, Syndergaard felt stiff after his past start, a taxing game in which he struck out 10 against the Washington Nationals. Second, and more important, by having Syndergaard pitch on Monday, the Mets lined him up to start a potential wild-card game on Oct. 5 with regular rest. “We wanted to make sure that, on that last weekend, if we needed him, he could pitch one of those games,” Mets Manager Terry Collins said. While the starting rotation around Syndergaard has dealt with injuries, his stout pitching has been one of the reasons the Mets rose significantly in the wild-card standings during the past month. But against the lowly “It stings a little bit because these last two weeks, every win is critical,” Syndergaard said. “A disappointment that I didn’t go out there and get the job done. Just got to learn from it and move on.” In the first inning, Syndergaard looked unhittable, throwing just 10 pitches to record three outs. He fired 100-mile-per-hour fastballs, and he struck out Adonis Garcia on a 95-m.p.h. slider. It foretold nothing of what was to come. Syndergaard continued to throw hard, but his command suffered because he was unable to replicate the tweak he made to his mechanics before his past start. He walked two in the second inning, and then he coughed up two run-scoring singles. He threw 35 pitches in the second inning alone. In the third inning, he surrendered a solo home run to Freddie Freeman, the Braves first baseman who has tormented the Mets throughout his career. Syndergaard also allowed a two-run double to Freeman in the fourth and was removed with two outs by Collins. It was only the second time in 30 starts this season that Syndergaard had allowed five runs or more. “Baseball is a funny game,” Syndergaard said. “You think you have it figured out, and it’ll knock you down. I felt the best I ever did in that start against the Nationals, and today I couldn’t even get out of the fourth inning.” The Mets’ offense was sluggish against the Braves and Aaron Blair, a rookie who entered the game with an 8.23 E.R.A. T. J. Rivera, who has filled in well at second base while Wilmer Flores has nursed a wrist injury, smashed a two-run home run off Blair in the fourth inning. But by then, the Mets trailed by 5-2. And the game only got further out of reach. Twelve games remain in the regular season, and the Mets have Syndergaard aligned to make two more starts. To reach the postseason, the Mets will most likely need him to rebound quickly from Monday’s hiccup. “He’s huge going down the line,” Collins said. “He’s our guy. Certainly, those young guys have stepped up and done a great job. But you’re going to go into the playoffs looking at Noah Syndergaard as the guy that has to pitch in a big game.” INSIDE PITCH Jay Bruce