the first. New York lost in its first game since the All-Star break on
Thursday, falling to the Braves 5-3 at Turner Field.
In a matchup that was hyped because of the team’s recent trade of Jeff Francoeur for Ryan Church, neither player did much against his former squad.
Francoeur went 0-for-4 with an RBI out of the No. 5 spot, while Church
only got into the contest as a pinch-runner, scoring a run in the
bottom of the eighth.
On the mound, Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez
both allowed three earned runs over six innings, making the game a
battle of the bullpens. And we all know how reliable the Mets bullpen
is before closer Francisco Rodriguez.
New York relievers combined to give up two runs on five hits and a
walk in two innings of work (that’s three base runners per inning if
you’re keeping track). On the other side, the Braves ‘pen was much
stronger, yielding just one hit and no walks over three scoreless
frames.
Manny Acosta earned his first win of the year for Atlanta after a 10-pitch seventh, while Pedro Feliciano took the loss for the Mets, dropping him to 2-3.
New York now stands at 42-46, putting the team in fourth place in
the NL East and 7 1/2 games behind the Phillies. The Braves, meanwhile,
improved to 44-45 and are six games out of first place.
The Mets will send Mike Pelfrey (7-4, 4.47 ERA) to the mound on Friday to take on Atlanta’s Jair Jurrjens
(7-7, 2.91) in Game 2 of this four-game series. Both pitchers have gone
2-1 over their past three starts, compiling ERAs of 3.57 and 2.84,
respectively.
