Mets win one for Griffin Canning. After tough injury, bullpen, bats rally to down Braves

NEW YORK — A lively crowd at Citi Field was shocked into eerie silence as Griffin Canning buckled at the bottom of the mound.

Luis Torrens immediately gestured to the dugout as the Mets starting pitcher elevated his left leg above the ground. The injury was clearly serious and he needed assistance to get back to the dugout.

With Canning's sudden departure, it was the Mets' job to infuse the energy back.

They mounted a response, with six hits over the next three innings, and an instrumental effort by the bullpen duo of Austin Warren and Dedniel Nuñez, shut down the Braves. In an emotional contest, the Mets delivered a gutsy effort to match, delivering a 4-0 victory over the Braves in front of a sold-out crowd of 42,646 fans on Thursday night at Citi Field.

"You never know how guys are going to respond. It's a moment of silence, the dugout kind of goes quiet for a little bit and it takes a couple of innings," Carlos Mendoza said. "I just feel like Warren being able to go out and taking us through the fifth inning, then that's when you start seeing the guys getting out of it."

The win helped numb some of the sting of their recent downturn, which included losing streaks of six and three games. The Mets ended up splitting their four-game series with the Braves. With a 48-34 record, they moved back into first-place in the National League East, a half-game over the Phillies, who were swept by the Astros on the road.

"Losing stinks and you'd rather win, but how this group has handled adversity has always been great," Pete Alonso said. "A lot of these guys in this room are the same group that came from 11 games under (.500) last year in 2024 and found a way to win games when it mattered most. So there's a lot of belief in this group. There's a lot of talent in this room."

Griffin Canning and the Mets' rotation's status

New York Mets starting pitcher Griffin Canning (46) is helped off the field after getting injured in the third inning against the Atlanta Braves on June 26, 2025, at Citi Field.

After three straight starts with three earned runs allowed or more, Canning appeared dialed back in early in Thursday's start.

Canning opened the game by striking out Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson as he opened with a pair of perfect frames before giving up his first hit to Eli White to lead off the fourth inning. After getting Michael Harris II to fly out to left field, Canning picked up a ground ball by Nick Allen, but as the righty vacated the mound, he took an awkward step and went down.

Mendoza said the belief that the injury was related to Canning's Achilles tendon, but the team is awaiting MRI results.

"Horrible. It sucks. You hate to see it, especially the way he went down right away," Mendoza said. "Once you get there and you're asking 'What's going on?' and just how everything developed after that, you feel sorry for the guy, especially how big he's been for us and the way he's been throwing the ball the whole year. He's been pretty consistent."

Canning's injury is the latest blow to the Mets rotation, which is already missing Kodai Senga due to a hamstring injury, Tylor Megill with a right elbow strain and Sean Manaea with an oblique strain.

"No one's going to feel sorry for us, so we'll find a way," Mendoza said. "Guys will step up. Our mentality is what do we need to do today, so pretty confident in the guys we have in that room. I'm pretty confident that the guys that will come up are going to give us opportunities to win baseball games and we will continue to do so."

Austin Warren, Dedniel Nuñez up to the task

Canning's injury forced an already pressed Mets bullpen into action.

Warren, who was drafted by the Angels in 2018, one season after Canning, had to dial in quickly as he readied to face Acuña. Warren induced a pop-up to second base from the Braves' leadoff hitter to get through the frame.

"It was definitely tough. When I saw him go down and not get up, I instantly jumped up, got moving around and sure enough, my name was called," Warren said. "I've got as much time as I needed out there, which, honestly, I didn't think I took that much time, just because adrenaline took over, but it worked out."

The 29-year-old righty, who was called up earlier in the afternoon, tossed 2⅓ scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts as the Mets built a 2-0 lead through five innings. With one out in the fourth inning, Marcell Ozuna singled into center field and advanced when Tyrone Taylor misplayed the ball. Warren calmly sent down Austin Riley on a ground ball to third base and struck out Sean Murphy on a sweeper.

Then, with a two-run lead, Dedniel Nuñez displayed the form that earned him a regular spot in the Mets' bullpen last season. Nuñez tossed two perfect frames between the sixth and seventh innings, closing his outing with four straight strikeouts against the middle of the Braves order (Olson, Ozuna, Riley and Murphy).

"My confidence was at an all-time high after that first strikeout after I struck out Olson there," Nuñez said. "I felt almost liberated. I almost felt free at that moment. After that, I went into that second inning just attacking the hitters the way that I know and that's why I was able to have success."

Pete Alonso leads offensive rally

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) celebrates in the dugout with his teammates after scoring in the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves on June 26, 2025, at Citi Field

The Mets offense backed up the strong pitching performance.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Juan Soto walked and Alonso singled. It allowed Tyrone Taylor to open the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Mets tacked on in the fifth inning with singles from Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo before Alonso plated his 65th RBI on a single up the middle to make it 2-0.

"As a whole group, I thought we did a great job stacking (at-bats), whether it's working walks, taking guys deep into counts, obviously getting hits when they happen," Alonso said. "I thought one through nine, great job executing the game plan today."

The biggest breakthrough came from Jeff McNeil in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Mets mounted a two-out rally with Soto singling and Alonso lofting a double down the left-field line. McNeil lofted a two-run single into shallow left field to boost the Mets ahead 4-0.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Mets win one for Griffin Canning. After tough injury, bullpen, bats rally to down Braves