Mets-Braves Suspended, Tied at 5
Friday night’s Mets-Braves game was suspended after eight innings with the score tied at five. The game will resume at 6:10 Saturday evening, before tomorrow’s scheduled game.
The Braves jumped out to an early lead in the first. Jeremy Hefner walked Justin Upton and Freddie Freeman hit a monster shot into the Pepsi Porch to give the Braves a 2-0 lead.
The Mets got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning. Daniel Murphy was hit by a pitch and David Wright singled to move Murphy to third. Lucas Duda hit a bloop down the left field line that no one could reach, scoring Murphy to make it 2-1.
John Buck led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to tie the game at two. It was Buck’s 12th homer of the season and just his second in May. He had nine long balls in April.
The Mets took the lead in the fifth. A Murphy double and a Duda walk put runners on first and second, and with two outs Marlon Byrd singled to center to make it a 3-2 game.
Hefner made it through six innings, settling down after his first inning problems. He allowed the two runs on just three hits, walking two and striking out seven.
LaTroy Hawkins relieved Hefner, and the first batter he faced, Dan Uggla, homered to left to tie the score at three.
Scott Rice came on for the eighth, making his MLB leading 28th appearance. He allowed a walk and a single and gave way to Glen Burke with two outs. Burke walked Uggla to load the bases, and then Evan Gattis singled to center to plate two to give the Braves the lead, 5-3. There was a reason Burke was sent down to the minors after starting the season with the team.
Speaking of the minors, Ike Davis struck out four times. He’ll be headed to Vegas by the end of the weekend.
The Mets had Ruben Tejada on first and John Buck on second with two outs in the eighth. The red hot Murphy came through with his third hit on the night to score Buck to make it 5-4. B.J. Upton bobbled the ball in center, allowing Tejada to advance to third. That was a huge error because on the next pitch a pitch in the dirt got by Brian McCann. Tejada raced down the line and was safe with the tying run on the wild pitch.
It was pouring rain throughout most of the bottom of the eighth, but the umpires refused to stop the game even though they probably should have. They finally called a halt after the inning was over with the game tied at five. If the Mets had not tied the score, it would have been a loss. Now they have a chance to win (or lose) two games on Saturday.