ATLANTA — The solar eclipse passed, and then the Mets began the rocket-launching party.
Brandon Nimmo sent two baseballs toward orbit as part of his wow performance Monday night, but the decisive liftoff belonged to DJ Stewart.
The Braves should have covered their eyes.
Stewart’s two-run homer in the eighth gave the Mets their final lead in a wild 8-7 comeback victory before 37,538 at Truist Park on a night the franchise celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hank Aaron eclipsing Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record.
Stewart, hitless in his first 12 at-bats to begin the season as he came to the plate in the eighth, cleared the center-field fence against Pierce Johnson after Nimmo had tied the game twice, with homers in the fifth and seventh.
Nimmo, who stroked a single in the eighth that gave his team an eighth run, finished 4-for-4 with five RBIs as the Mets won for the fourth time in five games.
Drew Smith allowed one run in the eighth, but with the bases loaded got Austin Riley to hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice before Jorge Lopez (with Edwin Diaz unavailable due to recent workload) escaped the ninth with the save.
In that ninth inning, Michael Harris II delivered an RBI single after Marcell Ozuna narrowly missed hitting a game-tying homer.
Harris stole second, but was left stranded as Lopez retired Orlando Arcia and Travis d’Arnaud.
The Mets showed resilience in rebounding from a 4-0 deficit after three innings to beat a team that won 10 of the 13 meetings last season.
In his Mets debut, Julio Teheran lasted only 2 ²/₃ innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
The right-hander, signed as a free agent last week, was returning to face the team for which he spent the first nine years of his career.
Teheran never escaped a third inning in which he threw 41 pitches and allowed four earned runs on four hits and two walks.
The Braves sent nine batters to the plate in the inning and scored four runs.
Jarred Kelenic and Ronald Acuña Jr. walked in succession to begin the inning.
Ozzie Albies delivered a two-run double and with two outs Ozuna crushed a 90 mph sinker into the left-field seats to bury the Mets in a 4-0 hole.
Reed Garrett recorded the inning’s final out after Michael Harris II and Orlando Arcia each singled against Teheran.
Starling Marte’s RBI single in the fourth sliced the Mets’ deficit to 4-1.
Charlie Morton walked Pete Alonso to start the inning and Brett Baty’s single off Matt Olson’s glove put runners on first and second with one out.
Marte singled to left and third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh was aggressive in sending Alonso, who just beat Kelenic’s throw to the plate.
But before the Mets could gain momentum, Stewart grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Nimmo tied it, 4-4, with a 435-foot shot over the right-field bleachers for a three-run homer in the fifth.
Morton walked Jeff McNeil and Joey Wendle in succession to begin the inning before Nimmo connected on a changeup for his first homer of the season.
Olson walked leading off the bottom of the fifth, but was thrown out trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt.
Francisco Alvarez took the carom off the backstop bare-handed and threw a strike to second base to nail Olson.
Morton walked Stewart with two outs in the sixth and was removed at 105 pitches. The veteran right-hander allowed four earned runs on five hits and five walks with four strikeouts.
D’Arnaud blasted an RBI double against Cole Sulser in the sixth that gave the Braves a 5-4 lead.
Orlando Arcia reached on an infield single before d’Arnaud jumped on a high fastball and hit it over Marte’s outstretched glove.
Nimmo’s second homer of the night, a shot that cleared the center-field fence against lefty A.J. Minter in the seventh, tied it 5-5.
The blast gave Nimmo multi-homer games for the sixth time in his career.
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