Zac Thornton’s scoreless stretch is over.
But the rookie’s latest solid outing has kept multiple streaks in play.
With his fourth straight start of at least six innings, Thornton earned his second career (and consecutive) win, leading the Mets to a 14-3 victory over the Braves at Citi Field for the team’s first back-to-back wins since July 8-9.
Thornton (2-1, 2.43 ERA) entered his fifth career start having thrown 18 straight scoreless innings — the longest such stretch by a Mets rookie since 2016 (Steven Matz) — but the southpaw allowed a run before his first inning was done. Still, the 24-year-old exited to a standing ovation in the rain.
Thornton (2-1, 2.43 ERA) allowed three runs, six hits and one walk in 6 ¹/₃ innings, with five strikeouts on 81 pitches (54 strikes).
“That’s who he is,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said. “The guy’s young, but he [doesn’t] allow [anything] to affect his next pitch, which is not an easy thing to do as a rookie on a big league mound for the first time.”
Entering the night, opponents were hitting .175 against Thornton.
But the lefty surrendered three hits before he recorded three outs, seeing his shutout streak end at 18 ²/₃ innings after Ozzie Albies’ run-scoring infield single.
The rookie allowed just three more hits over the next 5 ¹/₃ innings, including a game-tying homer to Albies in the fourth inning.
“I left a few pitches [in the] middle, and I gotta get back to what I do well, living on the edges,” Thornton said. “I’m a competitor. [I think] I’m gonna go out and beat whoever is on the other side of that field.”
Green took away one of the only remaining reasons to come to Citi Field, giving Carson Benge the day off. Over the final two months of the season, Green said he will attempt to walk a fine line with Benge and fellow standout outfielder A.J. Ewing, balancing the rookies’ health with their need to acclimate to the rigors of a full major league season.
“I think it’s a balance of pushing them to places they haven’t been before,” Green said before Monday’s game against the Braves. “Obviously the minor league schedule … is much easier than the major league travel schedule. You have to push them past where they’ve been before, but not necessarily so far that they’re in completely uncharted waters that you’re putting them at injury risk. So that’s just finding them a periodic off-day at strategic times … There’s a really good chance you’ll see A.J. get one [Tuesday or Wednesday] … I think we’re just gonna strategically make those choices to keep them fresh, but also challenged.”
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Infielder Mitch Voit, the Mets’ 2025 first-round pick, was promoted to Double-A Binghamton and is expected to debut with the team Tuesday. The 21-year-old appeared in 76 games this year with High-A Brooklyn, compiling a slash line of .242/.349/.745 with 11 home runs, 47 RBIs, 47 runs, 12 doubles and 36 stolen bases.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
