Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling utterly ‘disgusted’ with Braves’ ‘criminal’ use of relief pitcher
Connor Thomas got thrown to the wolves on Monday night, and the Mets’ broadcast booth could barely stomach watching it happen.
The Braves reliever was left in to twist against New York’s lineup long after the outcome had been decided, and by the time Atlanta finally mercy-killed the outing, Thomas had been shelled for 11 earned runs — the most any reliever has allowed in a major-league game in more than half a decade — according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.
His final line read: 2 2/3 innings, 10 hits, 11 runs, five walks, two strikeouts, three home runs, 78 pitches.
As Gary Cohen mentioned on the SNY broadcast of New York’s 14-3 win, Atlanta had ground through five consecutive one-run games in the days before Monday, and rather than burn another arm in a game that was already lost, the Braves made the call to sacrifice Thomas to the baseball gods.
The 28-year-old left-hander — a Tifton, Georgia, native and Georgia Tech product who made his MLB debut with the Brewers back in 2025 — had only been summoned from the minors about two days prior. He’s never been treated as a top prospect, and he entered Monday having not thrown more than 70 pitches in a single appearance since he was a starter for St. Louis’ Triple-A Memphis affiliate back in September 2023 — more than 1,000 days ago.
Piling 78 pitches and 11 runs onto an arm that hadn’t been stretched out that far in nearly three years wasn’t lost on the SNY crew, which reacted to the carnage almost in disbelief as it unfolded.
“I’m sorry, I think it’s just criminal what we just witnessed,” Keith Hernandez said.
Ron Darling couldn’t hide his discomfort watching a 28-year-old journeyman get fed to the fire.
“I mean, you just want to wrap your arms around him, give him a hug,” he said. “I mean, literally I’m sick to my stomach,” said Ron Darling.
“I’m not a happy camper at all, pretty disgusted with it,” Hernandez added.
“Poor kid – you want to give him a hug…literally I’m sick to my stomach”
Hernandez, still stewing, wasn’t finished.
“I’m not a happy camper at all,” he said. “Pretty disgusted with it.”
Keith and Ron didn’t like the Braves leaving Connor Thomas out on the mound to throw 78 pitches and give up 11 runs pic.twitter.com/aR7pefLUnl
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 28, 2026
There’s something almost touching about a booth this fluent in its own team’s misery being the ones to flinch first at someone else’s. Gary, Keith, and Ron will tell you, unprompted, exactly what’s wrong with the Mets on any given Tuesday. But it took a stranger in a different uniform, absorbing somebody else’s math problem for a night, to actually turn their stomachs.
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