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Francoeur, Braves finally solve Perez, take opener

Aug 8, 2007 - 4:19 AM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- The Atlanta Braves finally caught up to Oliver Perez.

Jeff Francoeur hit a three-run homer and Matt Diaz added a solo shot as the Braves pounded Perez and defeated the New York Mets, 7-3, in the opener of a key three-game series in the National League East.

Buddy Carlyle pitched five effective innings for the Braves (60-53), who won their third straight game to move within 3 1/2 games of the first-place Mets (63-49) for the division lead.

Francoeur had four of the Braves' 15 hits, including a pair of doubles, and fell a triple short of the cycle.

Atlanta had won six of the previous nine meetings with New York this season, but lost all three times they faced Perez.

"We've seen him so much, maybe we learned something," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.

The lefthander had allowed a total of just three runs in the three outings, but was nowhere nearly as effective in this one, allowing six runs in the first three innings alone and throwing over 100 pitches by the fifth inning.

"I thought (the Braves) fought him pretty good," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "I didn't think he threw all that bad. Obviously when you hit a home run, it's location."

Perez (10-8) lost for just the second time in five starts since the All-Star break, allowing six runs and 10 hits in five innings.

"We tried to change speeds and it wasn't working," Perez said. "You try to keep pitches down. I threw a lot that were up."

Carlyle (7-3), by contrast, continued his surprising string of success for the Braves, winning for the sixth time in his last seven decisions. The 29-year-old righthander, who is with his seventh major league organization, allowed three runs and five hits.

"It's easy to get wins when you're scoring seven runs," Carlyle said. "I know my role. I know as one the last starters it is to keep the team in the game."

Owner of just one major league win before this season, Carlyle walked one and struck out one.

The Braves had just one homer against Perez this season before belting two in the first three innings Tuesday en route to racking up nine extra base hits.

Diaz opened the scoring with a solo homer off Perez in the first, his eight of the season.

Francoeur doubled to right field with one out in the second and scored on a single by Brian McCann. One out later, Perez allowed a soft single to Carlyle to keep the inning alive, and Yunel Escobar followed with an RBI double to make the score 2-0.

"We swung the bats great tonight," Francoeur said. "I've been able to relax a bit and control my emotions compared to the last few seasons."

Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones had bloop singles one out apart in the third inning before Francoeur hit his 13th homer of the season to left-center field, giving Atlanta a 5-0 lead.

Carlyle allowed the first two batters to reach in the fourth, but escaped with allowing just one run after Moises Alou grounded into the first of his two double plays. New York hit into three double plays overall.

"It's part of the game," Alou said. "Sometimes you come through, sometimes you don't."

The Mets scored twice in the fifth on a double by Lastings Milledge, a triple by David Newhan and a groundout by Jose Reyes to cut the deficit to 6-3.

Atlanta added to its lead in the seventh as Chipper Jones doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Teixeira for the final margin.

The bullpen took over for Atlanta with Ron Mahay, Octavio Dotel and Rafael Soriano each pitching a scoreless inning and Peter Moylan tossing a perfect ninth.

Andruw Jones was back in the lineup for the Braves after missing two games with a sore shoulder.