ATLANTA – Michael Harris II had three more hits, including a solo home run and an RBI double, and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach shut out the New York Mets again as the Atlanta Braves rolled to a commanding 5-1 victory in the opener of a crucial three-game series on Tuesday night.

Marcell Ozuna hit his 39th home run for Atlanta, which is one game behind the Mets in the National League playoff race with five games remaining. New York began the night with a half-game lead over Arizona to secure the second of three wild cards, while the Braves were 1 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks.

Arizona hosted San Francisco in a later start.

Schwellenbach (8-7) pitched seven strong innings, allowing one run and three hits and recording four strikeouts. He allowed one run and five hits and struck out 15 batters in 14 innings in two wins against the Mets this season.

Harris managed just one triple hitter of the cycle and had 13 hits in his last five games. He also made a pike catch in center field that robbed Mets rookie Luisangel Acuña of a base hit.

Acuña played his first major league game in front of his older brother, Ronald Acuña Jr., who watched from the Atlanta team. The Braves’ star outfielder and reigning NL MVP is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The siblings swapped jerseys before the game.

Luis Severino (11-7) suffered the loss after allowing four runs in four innings. He allowed seven hits and one walk and struck out five players.

New York was coming off a 6-1 home win.

Mark Vientos hit his 26th home run for the Mets and Jose Iglesias extended his hitting streak to 17 games.

The Braves scored three runs in the third when Harris brought Orlando Arcia home with a double and then scored on a single by Ozzie Albies. With two outs, Ramón Laureano hit Albies home with a soft single.

Harris extended the lead to 4-0 with a 422-foot home run to left field in the fourth inning, and Ozuna’s hit made it 5-0 in the fifth inning.

Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Helene is forecast for the Atlanta area on Wednesday and Thursday, which could make games difficult to play and could potentially lead to a make-up game next Monday, one day after the regular season ends. The Mets are in Milwaukee starting Friday and the Braves host the Royals.

Next

Weather permitting, Mets LHP David Peterson (9-3, 3.08 ERA) will face LHP Chris Sale (18-3, 2.38) in the middle game of the series on Wednesday night.

——

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB