Atlanta Braves complete sweep of New York Mets, move closer to another National League East title

ATLANTA — Dansby Swanson and Matt Olson homered for the third straight game, Travis d'Arnaud hit a go-ahead two-run single in the third inning, and Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 5-3 on Sunday night to win a critical tiebreaker in their season series.

The defending World Series champion Braves swept the three-game series and moved two games ahead of New York in the NL East. Any combination of one Atlanta win or one Mets loss would give the Braves their fifth straight division title.

New York plays its final games of the season against Washington, who is last in the division. Atlanta goes to Miami. Should the season end Wednesday in a tie, Atlanta would win the NL East, because the Braves won the season series 10-9.

The Braves won five of the last six games in the series, outscoring the Mets 42-19 over that stretch. New York had a 10½-game lead on June 1 but now is the lower in the standings than at any point this season.

It was a lost weekend for New York, which came to Atlanta hoping to clinch its first division title since 2015. Instead, aces Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer lost Friday and Saturday before 15-game winner Chris Bassitt lasted just 2 2/3 innings on Sunday.

Swanson took Bassitt deep to right-center in the first with his 25th homer, and Atlanta took charge with a three-run third. Bassitt (15-9) issued a bases-loaded walk to Olson before d'Arnaud delivered a single up the middle to score Ronald Acuna Jr. and Austin Riley for a 4-3 lead. That chased Bassitt, who was charged with four runs, three hits and three walks.

Olson connected for his 33rd homer to make it 5-3 leading off the sixth, his 410-foot shot landing in the seats in right-center. Olson, in his first year with Atlanta, surpassed 100 RBIs for