Mets' Christian Scott set for home debut vs. Braves

New York Mets right-hander Christian Scott believes the only difference between his first major league start last week and his second outing on Saturday will be the presence of the home crowd.

Scott is set to make his New York debut when he opposes the Atlanta Braves in the middle contest of a three-game series.

Scott (0-0, 1.35 ERA) is scheduled to start against Braves left-hander Max Fried (2-1, 4.23).

The Braves won the series opener Friday night, when Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson provided all of Atlanta's runs with third-inning homers in a 4-2 victory.

Scott, who was promoted to the Mets after going 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA in five starts this year for Triple-A Syracuse, opened his big league career in impressive fashion on May 4. He held the Tampa Bay Rays to one run while striking out six over 6 2/3 innings in the Mets' 3-1 loss in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Scott, a 24-year-old Florida native, pitched in front of plenty of family members and friends when he faced the Rays. On Saturday, he expects to see thousands of Mets fans curious to see the team's top pitching prospect perform for the first time in person. A rookie pitcher developed by New York hasn't thrown 100 innings since Robert Gsellman tossed 119 2/3 innings in 2017.

"The only thing that's going to be different is that the Mets fans are going to be here, so I'm excited to go out there and compete and try to win a ballgame," said Scott, who was selected by the Mets in the fifth round of the 2021 draft.

"I'm excited to pitch for them. They've been great to me coming up. It was my dream ever since I got drafted here to pitch in front of them."

He will be facing a dangerous Atlanta lineup.

The architects of the Braves' Friday rally and their quick-strike nature -- the visitors scored their runs in a 10-pitch sequence after there were two outs and nobody on -- underlined the challenge ahead for Scott and the Mets.

Albies and Acuna were signed as teenage international free agents by the Braves in 2013 and 2014, respectively, before agreeing to long-term deals with the team in 2019, years before they would have reached free agency. Olson was acquired in a trade with the Oakland Athletics prior to the 2022 season and immediately signed an eight-year extension.

The trio combined to hit 128 homers last season but entered Friday with just seven homers in 366 at-bats. The three-homer inning Friday marked the first time this season they all went deep in the same game.

"I was happy, I was happy," Acuna said via an interpreter. "Especially just knowing that obviously, as hitters, we've had our tough times. But it's a long season and our moments are going to come."

Fried took a loss on Sunday when he allowed four runs over seven innings as the Braves fell 5-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is 8-5 with a 2.65 ERA in 22 career games (17 starts) against the Mets.