Ben Sheets probably couldn't have imagined a better debut. The veteran right hander spun six innings of shutout baseball to help the Braves to a 6-1 win over the New York Mets. The win was Atlanta's seventh in a row and completed a three-game sweep of the Mets which puts a little distance between Atlanta and New York in the NL East standings.
Atlanta scored all six runs in the fifth inning off of New York starter Johan Santana. Michael Bourn doubled home Matt Diaz to start the scoring and the big blow in the inning came in the form of a three-run homer by Freddie Freeman. Santana and the Mets were upset with a couple of pitches that were called balls by home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor which eventually led to pitching coach Dan Warthen being ejected.
However, Sheets was the story today as he allowed two hits in six innings while throwing 57 of his 88 pitches for strikes. Sheets walked one and struck out five while picking up the victory. Santana suffers his sixth loss of the season after allowing eight hits and six runs in five innings.
Freeman drove in three runs for the Braves with his 12th homer while Chipper Jones went 2 for 4. The Braves outfield trio of Michael Bourn, Martin Prado and Jason Heyward all drove in runs in the six run fifth.
For more on the Braves check out Talking Chop. For more Major League Baseball news and notes head over to Baseball Nation.