Braves End Road Trip With Loss To Mets

Jul 25, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Alex Wood (58) pitches during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY SportsThe Atlanta Braves fell to the New York Mets 7-4 to conclude their road trip on a Thursday afternoon matinee game. The Braves managed to jump out to an early 1-0 lead in an unconventional manner in the first inning. Evan Gattis struck out on a wild pitch that allowed Gattis to reach; John Buck’s throw to first was wild allowing Reed Johnson to score from second. Alex Wood made his third start for the Braves and wasn’t sharp but also suffered from a large degree of bad luck. Wood constantly had runners on base via weakly hit singles and some defensive misplays. Wood was unable to escape trouble in the third when an infield hit and a bloop single put runners on first and third with one out. Marlon Byrd drove in the first Mets run with a single to left and advanced to second on an error by Gattis in left field. A walk loaded the bases and then Turner grounded out weakly to put the Mets up 2-1. Wood had a chance to get out of the inning without further damage but John Buck singled to left on the first pitch to increase the Mets lead to 4-1.

The Braves tried to make a game of it when Dan Uggla hit a two run homer in the top of the fourth to narrow the deficit to 4-3. Wood left the game with one out in the bottom of the fifth with runners on second and third after a two base error on Freddie Freeman. Kameron Loe entered the game and managed to keep the Mets from adding to their lead and the Braves escaped the fifth still only down one run. A Freeman homer in the top of the sixth inning tied the game for the Braves but the Mets quickly retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth.

Fredi Gonzalez elected to keep Loe in for a second inning in a tie game and Loe was hammered for three runs in the inning making it 7-4 Mets. One run scored after a Wright hit bounced over the wall, hit the railing, and returned to the field of play and was not ruled a ground rule double. Fredi Gonzalez was ejected for arguing the call and seemed angered by the third base umpires refusal to ask for help on the call. The ground rule double that wasn’t made the game 6-4 and John Buck followed it up with a double to put the Mets ahead by three runs.

The Braves got Chris Johnson on base in the top of the ninth inning but were unable to seriously threaten the lead losing 7-4. The Braves return home to face the best team in the National League the St Louis Cardinals. Alex Wood will likely get at least one more start next week against Colorado but his status in the rotation after that is uncertain.