Braves Drop Mets

Where’s the Jeremy Hefner who led the majors in ERA for the six weeks prior to the All-Star break? He was putrid against the Phillies last week and was not much better Wednesday night as the Mets lost to the Braves.

Evan Gattis hit a monster shot into the second deck in left field in the second inning to give the Braves a 1-0 lead.

The Braves broke it open in the fifth. A Daniel Murphy error and a single put runners on first and second with no outs in the fourth. Dan Uggla followed with a long home run as the Braves extended their lead to 4-0. But they weren’t done. Andrelton Simmons hit another bomb with a man on as the Braves took a 6-0 lead. After a walk, Hefner was pulled from the game.

Hefner lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits. He struck out three and walked one. Hefner’s ERA, which was at 3.33 before the break, now stands at 4.17.

Meantime the Mets could not manage anything against Tim Hudson, who had to leave the game with two outs in the eighth with what appeared to be a very serious injury after Eric Young stepped on his ankle while Hudson was covering first. It was a gruesome injury; the replay showed Hudson’s ankle bending in a way that an ankle just shouldn’t bend. Young stood by and waited for Hudson to be lifted onto a cart. They shook hands and Young seemed to be in tears when he walked into the dugout.

Hudson left with runners on second and third, and to literally add insult to injury, his replacement, Luis Avilan allowed a double to Murphy that scored those two runs to make it 6-2.

The Braves went on to win 8-2. The Mets try to even the four-game series in a matinee at noon on Thursday.