Recap: NY Mets vs. Atlanta
Sports Network | September 14, 2008
Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - Greg Norton's three-run homer highlighted a five-run ninth inning, as the Atlanta Braves rallied past the New York Mets, 7-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series from Shea Stadium.
Chipper Jones finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored for the Braves, who have won five of their last six games. The third baseman leads the majors with a .365 batting average. Martin Prado walked three times and scored twice.
Jorge Campillo gave up four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings of work. Jorge Julio (2-0) got the win after he tossed a scoreless eighth.
David Wright went 4-for-5 with two home runs and knocked in three for the Mets, who have split their last eight games. New York saw its lead in the NL East shrink to 1 1/2 games over the Phillies thanks to Philadelphia's 7-3 win over Milwaukee in the opener of a day-night doubleheader on Sunday. Carlos Delgado collected three hits in the loss.
Oliver Perez allowed two runs on four hits and struck out eight over seven innings before handing the ball to New York's leaky bullpen. Luis Ayala (2-9) was tagged for three runs and failed to retire a batter in the ninth.
Ayala came on in the ninth to try and protect a 4-2 Mets lead. Casey Kotchman and pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson singled before Norton, pinch-hitting for Jorge Julio, hammered the eighth pitch of the at-bat over the right-field wall.
Pedro Feliciano replaced the ineffective Ayala and issued a one-out walk to Prado. Jones singled and Gregor Blanco doubled to make it a 6-4 game. A sacrifice fly by Corky Miller knocked in the Braves' seventh run.
Wright and Delgado singled off Mike Gonzalez to open the bottom half, but the left-hander settled down and retired the next three batters to notch his 11th save.
The Braves scratched out a run in the opening frame. Prado worked a one-out walk and Jones followed with a base hit. One out later, Omar Infante slapped a single to center chase home Prado. Wright, though, went the other way in the bottom half to tie the game at one.
An RBI double by Jones in the top of the third put the Braves in front, but New York seized the lead in the home half on Wright's 31st home run of the season. Daniel Murphy led off with a single before Wright hammered a 1-1 offering over the left-field wall.
New York then picked up another run in the fourth. Perez and Jose Reyes lined consecutive one-out singles. Murphy then hit a grounder to Kotchman at first. He threw the ball to Brent Lillibridge, whose throw back to first was dropped by Campillo, allowing Perez to cross the plate for a 4-2 game.
The Braves had two men on and one out in the eighth, but Joe Smith fanned Infante and Jeff Francoeur to end the threat.
Johnson is riding a 13-game hitting streak...The Mets have hit a home run in 19 of their last 22 games (33 total)...New York left 12 men on base, while the Braves stranded nine.
