The Braves were nearly blooped-to-death on Sunday afternoon, but three home runs and a game-winning hit from Chipper Jones in the ninth inning were enough in the 6-5 victory.
Mike Minor made the start for Jair Jurrjens and was impressive. He made a few mistakes -- allowing two hits to the opposing pitcher immediately comes to mind -- but he kept his pitches down in the zone, threw strikes early and often and avoided walking batters, which has bothered him in the past. His final line wasn't great -- 5.2 IP, 7H, 4ER, 2BB, 5K -- though the Mets really didn't make solid contact all game. A strong start for Minor and he'll look to build on it in his next start.
Jason Heyward blasted a solo-home run in the second inning to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. The shot was to deep center field and the ball carried at least 420 feet. Heyward finished the day going 1-for-2 with a walk and HBP before being taken out in the fifth inning during a double-switch. No reports if J-Hey's ankle was injured when he was hit, but some mentioned he had been limping.
The Mets took a 2-1 lead into the fourth but the Braves recently-found speed paid off. With runners on the corner and just one out, Michael Bourn grounded into what should have been a 4-6-3 double play. Instead, the center fielder busted it down the line and just beat the throw, which allowed the runner at third to score.
With the score tied, the Braves used the long ball from two unlikely sources to take the lead. Alex Gonzalez hit a monster 2-run homer and Jose Constanza followed on the next pitch with a ball that just cleared the bullpen wall in right field.
The Mets battled to tie it up in the seventh inning. With the scoreboard showing 5-5 in the top of the fifth, Alex Gonzalez singled to center field to start the inning. Constanza bunted him over into scoring position and Eric Hinske drew a walk to bring Mets Killer Chipper Jones to the plate. Chipper hit a weak grounder that made its way into right field to score Gonzalez easily.
Craig Kimbrel was not sharp in the ninth, but Dan Uggla turned in a smooth 4-3 double play to erase the leadoff batter. Kimbrel walked Jason Pridie, but Nick Evans grounded out weakly to third to end the game.
Atlanta wins 6-5 and takes a much needed series. It wasn't pretty and they were the victims of some bad luck, but they got the job done. The team will now head to Florida to start a 3-game series against the Marlins.