Church, Francoeur set to battle former teams

Playing in the NL East, the Mets and Braves have faced each other a few times before.

But Jeff Francoeur has never faced the Braves in a Mets uniform, and Ryan Church has never faced the Mets in a Braves uniform.

That changes Thursday night when the two teams begin a four-game set
in Atlanta, the first meeting between the clubs since the
Francoeur-for-Church outfield swap.

“The weird thing for me will be walking up to bat the first time with [Brian McCann] behind the plate,” Francoeur told the New York Post. “He’s probably going to be talking trash, so I may just dust a little dirt on him with the bat.

“I’ve got no hard feelings toward Atlanta, just a great opportunity for me up here with a fresh start.”

Church shared similar sentiments.

“Not once did we have a fallout,” Church said of Mets manager Jerry Manuel last week, according to USA Today.

Church continued: “I’ll go to war with him any day of the week.”

He seems to have left New York on good, joking terms:  “Now I get to beat up on you next week.”

That time has come.