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Bullpen implodes again, as Mets fall to Braves

Sep 22, 2008 - 1:21 AM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Jeff Francoeur and the Atlanta Braves gave fans of the New York Mets yet another miserable memory at Turner Field.

Francoeur had an RBI triple, and Martin Prado drove in three runs as the Braves rallied for 7-6 win over the Mets in the season finale at Turner Field on Sunday.

Ruben Gotay and Omar Infante each drove in a run for Atlanta, which used a four-run eighth inning to beat New York for the eighth time in nine meetings here this season.

Meanwhile, Carlos Delgado homered and collected his 2,000th hit with a single in the first and David Wright homered for New York (86-69), which fell 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies (88-68) in the National League East Division. Philadelphia beat Florida on Sunday.

The Mets also had their lead in the wild card cut to 1 1/2 games after Milwaukee (85-71) beat Cincinnati, 8-1, on Sunday.

They will certainly be glad to leave Turner Field - their personal house of horrors. The Mets have dropped 66 of 98 here since the ballpark opened in 1997.

In a season lost to injuries, the Braves gave their fans something to cheer about and left Mets fans shaking their heads after yet another implosion by their porous bullpen.

Infante lead the eighth-inning rally with a double down the left-field line off reliever Scott Schoeneweis (2-5) before first baseman Casey Kotchman knotted the game at 4-4 with a seeing-eye single to right.

Kotchman made contact on the 0-1 offering from Schoeneweis, partially offering at the pitch. But the check swing hit landed perfectly between Ryan Church and Carlos Beltran in right field, plating Infante with the tying run.

Francoeur followed with a triple to the left-center field to give the Braves a 5-4 lead. Two more Mets' relievers loaded the bases for Prado, who followed with a two-run double down the right field line.

Jorge Julio (3-0) hurled a scoreless eighth for the win. Mike Gonzalez worked around a two-run homer to Delgado in the ninth to record his 13th save.

The all-too familiar implosion from New York's bullpen evoked memories of the Mets' forgettable end to their 2007 campaign, missing out on the playoffs by losing 12 of their last 17 games to blow a seven-game lead to the Phillies in the NL East.

The bullpen, which has blown 28 saves, spoiled another solid outing from Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey allowed three runs and six hits in six innings and left with a 4-2 lead.