The Braves looked like a club about to let a winnable ballgame get away from them, but a late rally in the eighth inning propelled them to a huge 8-7 victory over the Mets. Atlanta has now won six games in a row and are putting some distance between themselves and the teams trailing them in the National League East.
Tommy Hanson was staked to early leads of 3-1 and 5-3, but he and the bullpen were unable to keep the Mets bats in check. New York rallied for three runs in the sixth inning to move up 6-5, and they added an insurance run in the top of the eighth.
Brian McCann drew a walk to start the bottom of the eighth. He was followed by Dan Uggla, who singled to right. Tyler Pastornicky came on and struck out on a missed bunt, and Juan Francisco struck out following a pitching change. It appears the Braves would see their key scoring opportunity go to waste, but Michael Bourn worked the count in his favor before lining a ball up the middle to drive home McCann.
Martin Prado entered and snuck a single to right field to bring home Uggla from third to tie the game. Jason Heyward then shot a ball through the left side of the infield to bring Bourn home, sending the crowd of 32,565.
Craig Kimbrel came on the ninth and struck out all three batters to protect the 8-7 lead.
It was a huge win for the club, and now they'll turn to Ben Sheets to sweep their second-straight series. He'll be opposed by Johan Santana.
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