Mets aren’t taking chance to bury rival Braves lightly

The last time the Mets were in Atlanta, Francisco Lindor launched one of the biggest home runs in franchise history, Edwin Díaz told Carlos Mendoza that “I got this s–t” in bouncing back from a rough eighth inning to lock down the ninth, and the club may have exorcised some Georgia demons in surviving a last-day doubleheader to crack into the postseason. 

Eight and a half months later, the stakes are lower, but the team surely can find motivation in burying a hated and struggling rival. 

The Mets begin a three-game set at Truist Park on Tuesday, the start of what will be a perhaps telling and definitely interesting 10-game stretch against the best of the NL East, including seven games against the Braves. 

These are not the same Braves the Mets met late last September, when both teams clawed through a marathon final day of the regular season — the Mets winning an epic Game 161 before the Braves rolled in the second end of the doubleheader, both clinching wild cards.