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NEW YORK -- Noah Syndergaard walked off the mound, back to the New York Mets dugout and straight into the tunnel to the clubhouse, avoiding any interaction with teammates.Baseballs just a really funny game, he said.Not the start the New York Mets were expecting from the pitcher they lined up to start in the NL wild-card game.Syndergaard, the only healthy starter left from among the Mets heralded young pitchers, was chased in the fourth inning after allowing five runs, and the Mets wild-card run was slowed with a 7-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.It stings a little bit because the last two weeks every win is critical, Syndergaard said. A disappointment that I didnt go out there and get the job done.He started with a 1-2-3 opening inning, then retired Matt Kemp on a flyout with his first pitch of the second. But it turned into a 35-pitch inning that included a pair of walks and RBI singles. Freddie Freeman led off the third with an opposite-field homer to left and reached down to slice an opposite-field, two-run double in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.Obviously he lost the feel, he lost his rhythm, Mets manager Terry Collins said. Youre looking at 11 pitches, he had four outs, and the next thing you know he couldnt throw the ball over the plate.New York had won 11 of its previous 14 games. It leads the NL wild-card race by one game over San Francisco and St. Louis.If theres any game that weve played in a long time that demonstrates that theres no guarantees and no sure things in baseball, tonights the game, Collins said.Aaron Blair won for the first time in 13 major league starts, Freeman had four hits for the NL-worst Braves and rookie Dansby Swanson had three hits and three RBI.Pitching on five days rest rather than four, partly because he felts stiffness following his previous outing, Syndergaard (13-9) allowed eight hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings, and Atlanta fouled off 26 of his 99 pitches. He is set for two more regular-season starts before the wild-card game on Oct. 5 -- if the Mets get there.Youre going to go into the playoffs looking at Noah Syndergaard as the guy that hes got to pitch a big game, Collins said. Hes the guy youre going to turn to.Aaron Blair (1-6) won for the first time in 13 big league starts. He did not allow a hit until the fourth, when Curtis Granderson singled and Pacific Coast League batting champion T.J. Rivera hit his third home run this month.James Loney added an RBI double in the ninth on a ball that bounced past center fielder Ender Inciarte, who tried for backhand snag as he slid.Loney and Granderson had three hits each for the Mets, who have lost four straight home games against the Braves.They came out swinging, Syndergaard said. Theyre a pesky team right there, and they can really do some damage.TAKING OFFSwanson swiped the 47th stolen base of the season off Syndergaard; Milwaukees Jimmy Nelson is second in the big leagues with 27 allowed.TAKE A SEATNew York benched outfielder Jay Bruce from the starting lineup for the second straight game, hoping the mental break will spark an end to his slump. Bruce pinch hit in the ninth inning and flied out, leaving him in a 3-for-34 slide. He is hitting .180 with four homers and 11 RBI in 39 games since the Mets acquired him from Cincinnati.GRANDY-MANGranderson was given the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, presented annually by the Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity to the major leaguer best exemplifying Gehrigs giving character.TRAINERS ROOMMets: LHP Steven Matz (shoulder tightness) is to throw a bullpen Wednesday and could rejoin the rotation later this week. He has been sidelined since Aug. 14.UP NEXTRHP Robert Gsellman (2-1) is to start for the Mets on Tuesday and Julio Teheran (5-10) for the Braves. Gsellman made hit big league debut Aug. 23 and allowed four runs over five innings at Atlanta on Sept. 9.Adam Thielen Youth Jersey . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Brian ONeill Womens Jersey . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. http://www.thevikingsshoponline.com/Youth-dru-samia-vikings-jersey/ . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. Chris Doleman Womens Jersey . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros. Paul Krause Womens Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla.OXFORD, Miss. -- Mississippi was home to some of the best college football teams in America just two years ago.These days the Magnolia State is the locale for unrealized expectations, frustrating losses and the bottom of the Southeastern Conference Western Division.Now Ole Miss (3-4, 1/3 SEC) and Mississippi State (2-5, 1-3) are trying to figure out a way to salvage something from whats quickly turning into a forgettable season for both programs.Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze says his program hasnt given up despite two straight losses, including Saturdays 38-21 setback to LSU that knocked the Rebels out of the national rankings for the first time season.Were not the first to experience that and its probably not the last time well experience it in this league, Freeze said. So weve got to fight.Bravado aside, theres a distinct sense of deflation across the state two years after some of the biggest football weekends in the history of Mississippi. In October 2014, Mississippi State was the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in school history while Ole Miss was closely behind them at No. 3.The fall has been swift. Now the Bulldogs and Rebels have plenty of work to do over the next five weeks just to reach six wins and make a bowl game.I hate sitting up here saying we have to keep working hard, but thats the name of the game, Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly said. I want to go out there with a bunch of guys who want to fight to the end. We have to find the guys that want to be out there and give it their all.Ole Miss had the highest expectations of the two Mississippi programs this season -- ranked No. 11 in the preseason -- making its rapid fall more surprising. Kelly returned after throwing for more than 4,000 yards last season and has had good moments this season, even though several of his interceptions and lost fumbles have been crucial in losses.But the Rebels real problem is on defense.Ole Miss ranks close to the bottom in the SEC in several major defensive categories, including 13th out of 144 teams in scoring defense (31.dddddddddddd4 points per game) and last in rushing yards allowed (226.9 per game).The Ole Miss defense was torched by LSU running back Leonard Fournette on Saturday. Fournette needed just 16 carries to run for a school-record 284 yards.The Rebels frustration boiled over during the game as defensive players argued about the problems.There are going to be issues. Families argue, Ole Miss defensive end Victor Evans said. Were all not going to see eye to eye sometimes. We all try to do what weve got to do to get on one page.It wont get any easier for the Rebels: They host No. 15 Auburn (5-2, 3-1) on Saturday.Mississippi State should have an easier weekend ahead, hosting lower-division foe Samford on Saturday. But nothing has been easy for the Bulldogs, who lost 40-38 to Kentucky last weekend after the Wildcats made a 51-yard field goal as time expired.Some of Mississippi States regression was expected since the Bulldogs were transitioning to sophomore quarterback Nick Fitzgerald following the spectacular career of Dak Prescott. But its safe to say a 2-5 record -- which includes losses to South Alabama, BYU and Kentucky -- wasnt expected.Its a little bit of everything, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said. You have a bunch of injuries, combined with a bunch of young players, combined with a new staff on the defensive side of the ball. It adds up.Mullen says hes still confident in his young core of players, including Fitzgerald, freshman receiver Keith Mixon, freshman linebacker Leo Lewis and freshman defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons.Its just that when a team is relying on so many young players, large variations in performance are common.You see a lot of good things, Mullen said. And then there are some head scratchers.-----Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP . AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org . ' ' '