Bryce Elder Takes Blame After Braves' Missed Challenge

One shaky start was all it took to spoil an otherwise calm Monday night for the Atlanta Braves.

Bryce Elder could not find his best stuff, the New York Mets jumped on him early, and Atlanta never quite caught up in an 8-5 loss at Truist Park.

Elder knew the pitch to Carson Benge was close, tapped his cap and expected the ABS challenge to follow.

The request was not recognized, Benge took first base and the first inning kept sliding until Brett Baty's grand slam gave the Mets a lead Atlanta never recovered from.

It shouldn't be the whole reason for an 8-5 loss, since Elder still had chances to end the inning and the Braves still had eight more turns at the plate.

Elder never recovered his rhythm, giving up seven runs before his night was done and dropping to 8-7 with a 4.03 earned run average.

Atlanta did chip away, getting two runs back in the fourth on singles by Drake Baldwin and Ronald Acuña Jr. and pushing another across in the fifth to pull within 7-5, but Francisco Lindor homered and piled up three hits for New York, and the Mets tacked on late to close it out.

The Braves are 71-48 and lead the National League East by seven and a half games, so a single loss to a last-place team does not move the needle in any real sense.

The lineup is deep and dangerous, with Matt Olson and his 34 home runs anchoring the middle, and Acuña swinging a hot bat as the calendar turns toward the playoffs.

This is a team that has spent all year looking like it will run away with the division, and nothing about Monday changes that.

What Atlanta does want is sharper pitching heading into October, and Elder took the blame for his part of it.

"I think if I would have really stood my ground and tapped my hat longer, then maybe he would have seen me. But, I didn't. So, we've got to make better pitches," Elder said.

That is the right attitude, and the Braves have the rotation depth to keep sorting it out, with arms like Martín Pérez giving them quality innings when they need them.

The one thing worth watching is whether Elder can tighten things up, because if this rotation clicks in September, they can turn a good regular season into a deep playoff run.

Atlanta has two more games with the Mets and then an off day Thursday before a weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.