Braves hand Mets win with bases-loaded walk

New York — The Braves didn’t give Jair Jurrjens much run support Tuesday night, as usual. But with a 3-0 lead after 7 1/2 innings, they thought they had scored enough.

They were wrong.

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AP

Mets’ David Wright slides after being tagged out at home plate by Braves catcher Brian McCann in the seventh inning.

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Braves reliever Jeff Bennett walked Carlos Beltran with the bases loaded and two out in the 10th inning, giving the New York Mets a 4-3 come-from-behind win at Citi Field that left the Braves in anger and disbelief.

“We walked the winning run in &mdash that’s not good,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said. “That’s a game we let get away.”

Chipper Jones said it was taken away by third-base umpire Greg Gibson, who called Beltran safe on a steal of third base with one out in the ninth. Beltran had doubled against closer Mike Gonzalez to start the inning.

“Let’s just say the baseball gods owe us one,” Jones said. “The game came down to one play, and the umpire got it wrong. Why he got it wrong, I don’t know.”

Catcher Brian McCann made a perfect throw to third baseman Jones, and replays appeared to show Beltran’s hand hit Jones glove before Beltran touched the base.

One out later, Gonzalez hit Fernando Tatis with a pitch before Luis Castillo drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly to left field. In Jones’ view, that should have been the third out, not a tying sac fly, if the call was made at third.

“I never had a guy slide into my glove and be safe,” Jones said, with a tone of disgust. “That’s the whole game. … We played a perfect game and got it taken away from us.”

Jurrjens pitched 7 1/2 strong innings, but was again denied a win after the Mets scored two in the eighth, then one in each of the last two innings. It was the Braves’ first loss in 15 games this season when leading after seven innings.

Jose Reyes singled with two out in the 10th and stole second base before the Braves had Bennett intentionally walk Alex Cora with first base open.

That brought up pinch-hitter Ramon Castro, who Bennett walked unintentionally (to say the least). Then came the dangerous Beltran to the plate with bases loaded. He worked a full count before Bennett walked him to end the game.

Atlanta blew a chance at what would have been a season-high four-game winning streak, instead falling to 5-2 on an eight-game trip that has felt like a resurgence — or at least it did until the final innings Tuesday.

Jurrjens gave up seven hits and two runs with one walk. In his past six starts, he is just 1-2 despite a 1.98 ERA, allowing two runs or fewer in each.

“My job is to help my team stay in the game and hope we win,” said Jurrjens, who had a four-hit shutout before giving up three hits to the four batters he faced in the eighth inning, including Reyes’ two-run double.

That ended Jurrjens’ night, and the bullpen couldn’t hold off the Mets.

“You’ve got to have luck and performance,” Jurrjens said. “If you don’t have luck on your side, you can perform and still lose. … It’s not about me. This was a really big game for us, [would’ve] given us a chance to sweep them tomorrow.”

The Braves can still win all three series on the trip by taking the series finale Wednesday. They will have Jo-Jo Reyes &mdash he of the 17-start winless streak &mdash pitching against Mets left-hander Jonathan Niese in his fifth career start.

Even after the game turned Tuesday, the Braves had a chance to win.

Jeff Francoeur flied out with two runners on base to end the 10th inning, capping an 0-for-5 night in which the Braves right fielder failed to drive in any of the seven runners on base in his at-bats.