New York -- With Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar out of the lineup, the Braves needed others to pick up offensive slack and Tim Hudson to pitch like an ace.

They fell short on both accounts.

AP (ENLARGE)

Braves third baseman Martin Prado waits for the ball as the New York Mets' Ryan Church slides in with an RBI triple during the third inning. Prado was replacing Chipper Jones who sat out with an injury.

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Hudson was rocked and gone after three innings for the second time in three starts, and the Braves couldn't overcome his four-run third inning in a 4-3 loss to the Mets on a blustery Saturday at Shea Stadium.

"I was missing with my location and they were hitting it," said Hudson, who allowed four runs and seven hits in three innings, including three extra-base hits and two singles in the fateful third to give New York a 4-2 lead.

"I don't know what to say. It was a tough inning. I gave up some hits."

Hudson (3-2) gave up four runs and six hits in three innings April 16 at Florida, and afterward conceded that weight loss from a recent bout with flu symptoms might have contributed to that performance.

This time, he wouldn't make any excuses and said he felt "great" physically. Unlike in the Florida game, the radar-gun readings on his fastball didn't seem out of kilter Saturday, consistently in the 90-92 mph rage.

"He just couldn't locate," said manager Bobby Cox, who replaced Hudson after three innings. "He just could not hit his spots. I thought it was best to give him a breather. [The season] is a long haul."

Asked again about Hudson's health and whether he was sure the pitcher was not injured, Cox became perturbed and said, "He missed his spots. He's fine."

What makes Hudson's two poor outings in three more perplexing is that he threw eight scoreless innings of three-hit ball at Washington on April 11 -- in his first start after being sick.

Also, between the four-run, three-inning losses at Florida and New York, he allowed only two runs (one earned) in 6-2/3 innings Monday against Washington, albeit with 10 hits surrendered.

Over his past three starts, he's 1-2 with a 6.39 ERA and .397 opponents' average, with 23 hits and 10 runs (nine earned) in 12-2/3 innings.

"All of a sudden I don't think I'm the worst pitcher in baseball," Hudson said, smiling. "It's not bothering me much. Obviously I would have liked to pitch better [Saturday]. Just didn't make very good pitches in that inning."

Hudson said what did bother him was not pitching deeper into the game to take some pressure off an overworked bullpen and Sunday starter John Smoltz. But he made it clear he couldn't disagree with Cox's decision, given the results.

The bullpen answered the call again Saturday, as four relievers held the Mets to two hits over the final five scoreless innings. There were two hitless innings from Jorge Campillo to reduce his ERA to 0.79, among baseball's best.

Martin Prado, who had two of the Braves' six hits, hit a ball 405 feet to center off Billy Wagner in the ninth, but it was caught just shy of the fence.

The Braves were without Jones, who was 4-for-7 with a homer against Mets starter John Maine (2-2). Maine allowed two runs and three hits in five innings.

"The last time I faced him I was 3-for-3 off him," said Jones, scratched because of back spasms. "I should have been in there today. We lost by one run, and I'd like to think I could have helped us score one run."

Jones has more homers (19) and RBIs (53) at Shea than any major league ballpark outside Atlanta, hence the reason he named his youngest son Shea. But since the beginning of the 2005 season, Jones has played just 13 of the Braves' 30 games at the stadium, because of injuries.

As for Hudson, Jones said, "I don't know what's going on. They all say he's fine, physically. We've certainly got to get more innings out of Huddy. The flu zapped him pretty good, and he struggled to get back.

"We need to get him back in a hurry."