New York —- In his first trip to the enemy's house, Jair Jurrjens was a perfect mess for one inning. But the Braves rookie was simply perfect for the rest.

Jurrjens lost his composure and issued three consecutive bases-loaded walks in the third inning, but he made amends with the rest of his six-inning performance in a 6-3 series-opening win against the New York Mets at raucous Shea Stadium on Friday night.

Kelly Johnson went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs, and Jurrjens was perfect in all of his other five innings of work as the Braves (12-11) won for the seventh time in nine games and moved to 3-0 against the Mets.

"He's so mature it's unreal," said manager Bobby Cox, who was ejected after coming to Jurrjens' defense during the eventful third inning. "He understands everything —- baseball, the game, how it should be played, the whole works."

Jurrjens allowed two hits in six innings, and four Braves relievers held the Mets hitless the rest of the way. The Braves outhit the Mets 13-2, including three hits from rookie outfielder Gregor Blanco.

The Braves got a scare when shortstop Yunel Escobar left the game with a bloody contusion on the tip of his right index finger, which occurred when he was putting down a sacrifice bunt in the first inning.

X-rays were negative, and Cox said Escobar would probably miss the rest of the series but might be back for Tuesday's series opener at Washington.

Otherwise, the Braves had plenty to be excited about, particularly the performance of their 22-year-old right-hander from Curacao.

"I think it was a great test for [Jurrjens]," said Jeff Francoeur, whose two-out double in the fifth drove in Brian McCann to tie the score, 3-all. "He was aggravated and lost his focus. Adrenaline took over."

Jurrjens (3-2) retired every batter he faced in the first two innings and in the fourth through sixth. In between, he temporarily lost his command —- and his cool —- in the third inning as Shea denizens howled and the Mets took a 3-1 lead.

"But after [the walks] he came right back," Francoeur said. "He showed he can handle a situation like Shea. If he can pitch in this environment, with a thousand fights going on all over the place, he can do it anywhere."

There were at least a half-dozen fights in the stands, as many in the crowd of 52,495 showed a short fuse in the later innings.

During the third inning, the temper that flared was Jurrjens'.

"I made a mistake and showed [the umpire] up," he said. "I'm still learning every time I go out there."

Jurrjens gave up three runs, four walks and two hits in the third inning, when the Mets batted around and Cox got tossed while arguing Jurrjens' case.

It was the first ejection of the season for Cox and the 136th of his career, extending the major league record he set last season.

Jurrjens gave up two hits to start the third, then recorded two outs before walking Luis Castillo to load the bases. Next he walked David Wright after getting ahead in the count 0-2, and Jurrjens held out his hands as he stood on the mound looking toward home-plate umpire Tim McClelland.

"I got caught up in the game, the emotions," Jurrjens said. "I'm sorry about that. Something I need to learn from. Hopefully I can talk to [McClelland] tomorrow."

McClelland pointed at him and took several steps toward the mound, but Jurrjens had wisely stopped his gestures and moved to the grass behind the mound, keeping his back turned as if unaware he was being warned.

Cox left the dugout in his distinct shuffle-jog and diverted attention from Jurrjens as he argued with McClelland that the strike zone was being squeezed on the Braves rookie. Within seconds, the ump gave Cox the heave-ho.

Jurrjens walked the next two batters, Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church, and it appeared there was no chance he would be able to gather himself and get back into any sort of good rhythm.

But he did.

He struck out Angel Pagan looking to end the inning, and after that Jurrjens regained his composure as if nothing had ever happened.