Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis homered for the Braves, with Kemp reaching 30 for the season, and Markakis also threw out a runner at the plate.
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Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes put the Mets back on top in the fifth with a homer of his own off Braves pitcher John Gant. He allowed only one run and two hits in 6 2/3 innings in a 5-1 win on June 17 at NY, which traded him to the Braves past year.
Swanson led off the 10th with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch by Erik Goeddel (1-1) and moved to third on Pierzynski’s single.
The Mets snapped a six-game winning streak, their longest since late April when they won eight straight. NY dropped one-half game behind St. Louis for the second NL wild-card spot. Chris Withrow (3-0) got credit for the victory after pitching a flawless top of the 10th inning.
Asdrubal Cabrera #13 congratulates James Loney #28 of the New York Mets after Loney’s solo home run in the fourth inning against the Atlanta Braves during the game at Turner Field on September 11, 2016 in Atlanta.
Teheran and the Braves led 4-0 after five innings before he gave up a two-run homer to Curtis Granderson with two outs in the sixth. The Mets are 10-2 in the last 12 meetings in Atlanta. “One of those plays where I really wanted to score but I tried to do too much and it’s why I got hurt”. He finished with career lows in batting average (.217), on-base percentage (.239) and OPS (.542) in 80 games for the rebuilding Braves. Kelly Johnson and Alejandro De Aza had RBI singles, Loney an RBI double and Lugo a sacrifice fly for a 10-1 lead in the fifth.
A fielding error by rookie shortstop Dansby Swanson and two walks from rookie right-hander Mauricio Cabrera (3-1) loaded the bases to set up the Mets’ four-run inning.
Flores briefly stayed on the ground bent over on a knee before being escorted off the field by a trainer.
James Loney homered to make it 6-0 in the fourth. A 2-out double from Wilmer Flores gave the Mets a chance.
“Right now things are falling our way”, Mets manager Terry Collins said. “Got distracted. My fault”.
It was reported after Saturday’s game that Pierzynski was retiring, but at this time he’s not. “I’m not going to try to trick them or throw it by them. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but if this is it, it’s been fun”.
Pierzynski, 39, is hitting just.219 and playing for the worst team in the NL. Freddie Freeman (.292, 87 Rs, 29 HRs, 73 RBIs, 4 SBs) went 1 for 5 yesterday with one run.
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Lugo has won his last four starts, going 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA. Colon moved up one day in the rotation to take Lugo’s spot. Collins said LHP Steven Matz (shoulder tightness) “was fine” after throwing 20 pitches off a mound Saturday in Port St. Lucie, Florida. RHP Matt Wisler, who tweaked his side on August 31, threw a bullpen session on Friday and will do so again on Sunday in anticipation of a potential return to the Braves rotation on Tuesday.
