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Mets use four-run third to edge Braves

Apr 26, 2008 - 9:20 PM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) - After getting just two hits in the series opener, it took the New York Mets just three innings to surpass that figure and they did so against someone who they often struggle against.

Ryan Church had a go-ahead triple as the Mets scored four times in the bottom of the third against Tim Hudson and recorded a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

John Maine (2-2) pitched five innings and settled down after allowing two runs through the first three. He gave up two runs and three hits while striking out seven and walking three in a 100-pitch outing.

Maine also had a trainer and Mets manager Willie Randolph check on him after he shook his arm in the fifth. The righthander stayed in and said he was fine.

"They had some good at-bats," Maine said of the early innings. "They drew a couple of walks but I limited the damage. It's a big win for everybody."

Maine's effectiveness and New York's ability to put together a rally in third gave them its first win in four tries over the Braves this season. It also was just the Mets' second victory in their last seven contests overall following last week's five-game winning streak.

"We've been struggling a little bit of late but it's nice when you come up there off a great pitcher," Church said. "He didn't have his best stuff but we still got the opportunities and we cashed in."

"It's been a while since we put a string of hits together like that," New York manager Willie Randolph said. "It was nice to see against a really fine pitcher. (Hopefully) we can just get a little momentum going offensively."

It also came less than 24 hours after the Mets scored all three of their runs and had their only two hits in the third inning in a 6-3 loss. New York wound up with just two baserunners the rest of the night and stranded three before coming alive in the third in this one.

Just like the series opener, the Mets limited their scoring to one inning and it almost cost them.

"You want to keep adding on but they held up," Church said. "There's going to be some tight ballgames and some one-run games."

Struggling righthander Aaron Heilman gave up an RBI single to Martin Prado with two outs in the sixth but retired rookie Brent Lillibridge on a groundout.

Lefthander Scott Schoeneweis pitched a hitless seventh, Pedro Feliciano allowed a one-out single to Brian McCann in the eighth and Duaner Sanchez finished the inning by retiring Jeff Francoeur on a double play. Billy Wagner worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save.

Normally a ground-ball pitcher, Hudson (3-2) lasted three innings for the second time in three starts. He allowed four runs, seven hits and threw just 60 pitches while falling to 8-5 lifetime against New York.

"He just couldn't locate," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He had a hard time, because he was fine physically and just could not hit the spots. (He) kept missing. I thought, well, it'd be best to give him a breather here. It's a long haul, a lot of innings to pitch."

Hudson began unraveling when Endy Chavez and David Wright had one-out singles. Carlos Beltran followed with a long double over center fielder Mark Kotsay's head.

"He's tough," said Wright, who snapped a career-worst 0-for-19 skid. "He love contact. He wants to get ahead of you early in the count and we beat him to it today."

Church drove in Beltran with a triple to deep right and Carlos Delgado capped the inning with a run-scoring groundout.

"I felt good out there today," Hudson said. "I just ran into some trouble that third inning and the inning just kind of sped up on me."

Atlanta scored a run in the first and third. Mark Teixeira lined an RBI double in the first and Hudson scored on a wild pitch in the third.

After taking a 2-0 lead, Atlanta stranded runners at first and second when Brian McCann grounded out. The Braves also mustered just six hits in the contest, stranded six and fell to 0-8 in one-run games.

The Braves lost for just the third time in 10 games. They played without starting third baseman Chipper Jones, who was scratched with back spasms.