MLB Game Preview - Atlanta at NY Mets

Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:15 PM EDT

The eyes of the Atlanta Braves were focused on their first baseman Friday night. On Saturday night, all of baseball will be eyeing the New York Mets' first baseman.

Pete Alonso will look to break the single-season rookie home run record, when the Mets host the Atlanta Braves in the penultimate game of the regular season for both teams.

Left-hander Steven Matz (10-10, 4.37 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for the Mets against Braves right-hander Mike Foltynewicz (8-5, 4.46 ERA), who will be preparing for a National League Division Series start.

Alonso tied Aaron Judge's rookie home run record Friday night, when he hit his 52nd homer in the first inning of the Mets' 4-2 win. J.D. Davis hit the tie-breaking two-run homer in the fourth inning.

Judge became the first rookie to hit 50 homers when he did so for the New York Yankees in 2017. Now, Alonso will get two more games to try to cement his status as the most potent rookie of all-time -- a concept he had a hard time comprehending Friday night.

"To try and wrap my mind around that -- I mean, when I think of guys (in) baseball history, I think of old-time guys like Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds," Alonso said Friday night. "Geez, to think as a rookie, I hit more homers than anyone else except for one guy, it's nuts. It's crazy."

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman had a far quieter night than Alonso on Friday, going 0-for-5 and not hitting the ball out of the infield. But Freeman's performance was secondary to how he felt after returning to the lineup following four days off due to a bone spur in his right elbow.

Freeman didn't even travel to Kansas City for the Braves' two games with the Royals. He remained in Atlanta and didn't pick up a bat. But manager Brian Snitker said Friday night that the rest did Freeman good and that he wasn't concerned

"Freddie feels great," Snitker said. "I think it's just more the fact he hadn't hit in four days."

Matz lost his second straight start Monday night, when he allowed six runs over five innings as the Mets fell 8-4 to the Miami Marlins. He has given up 13 runs over nine innings in those two starts, and his ERA has risen from 3.84 to 4.37.

Foltynewicz hasn't pitched since Sept. 20, when he won his fourth consecutive start by allowing just three hits over eight scoreless innings as the Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-0.

Foltynewicz has a 0.69 ERA in his four September starts, and he has lowered his ERA from 5.59 to 4.46.

Matz is 5-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 12 career starts against the Braves. Foltynewicz is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA in six games (five starts) against the Mets.

--Field Level Media