The Mets chased Spencer Strider out in the third inning of Sunday’s victory over the Braves – though the rookie pitcher did not sound impressed.

Strider was tagged for four runs and six hits before Braves manager Brian Snitker pulled him after 2 2/3 innings and 79 pitches thrown. Shortly after the 5-2 loss, the 23-year-old attributed the losing effort to the Mets’ luck.

“[There were] a lot of weird hits,” Strider said of the outing, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “[The Mets] seem to be having a lot of luck right now offensively. That’s great. It’s August. (We’ll) see what things are like in October.”

The “weird” hit likely in question came in the second inning off the bat of Mets slugger Pete Alonso. With runners on first and second and one out, Alonso smacked a grounder down the third-base line that ricocheted off the bag and darted over Austin Riley’s head into left field. The fortunate double got the Mets’ scoring started, and was followed up by a Mark Canha double that plated two more to make it 4-0.

Strider’s downfall was ultimately his inability to induce quick at-bats. The Mets, as they have all season, worked long counts and laid off close pitches throughout the contest, forcing Strider to reach three-ball counts on six of the batters he faced. In 7 1/3 innings against the Mets this season, he has thrown an astronomical 182 pitches. 

“It helps when they’re getting calls and 1-1 counts turn to 2-1 counts instead of 1-2 counts, and stuff like that,” Strider said. “When your BABIP is .330, .340 as a team, it’s tough to get quick innings and get quick outs.”

Whether it was luck or skill, the Mets certainly made a statement against Strider and the Braves, who they defeated four times in this weekend’s crucial five-game series. And with Atlanta now sitting 6 1/2 games behind their NL East rivals, their chances of catching up come October just got a lot more difficult.