After the ball rocketed off his bat, Braves outfielder Jonny Gomes pointed, prodded and pleaded with it to please stay fair as he skipped down the first-base line.
The ball did as Gomes asked and landed in Turner Field’s left-field seats, just inside the foul pole. The Braves had rallied again to tie the Mets in the seventh inning and keep alive their hopes of a 6-0 start to the season.
All season the Braves had been able to depend on their bullpen to hold the opposition in these situations. Then again, they hadn’t had to use Juan Jaime in a tight game until Sunday.
Jaime came on to pitch the eighth inning with the score tied and promptly walked the first two batters. That led to pinch hitter Daniel Murphy’s go-ahead sacrifice fly that gave the Mets a 4-3 victory and the Braves their defeat of the season.
It was the first run allowed this season by the Braves’ bullpen. For Jaime (0-1) it was a continuation of the control problems that plagued him last season and during the Grapefruit League this spring.
“It’s not like it’s the first time with Jaime,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said “It’s one of those things that he’s got a good arm but it’s just (trouble) putting it all together. Today we were behind the eight ball. That happens when you win five days in a row and you are using (several relievers). So we went with what we have.”
Effective relievers Jim Johnson, Luis Avilan and Brandon Cundiff had each pitched two games in a row for the Braves. Gonzalez was saving closer Jason Grilli for a potential clinching inning.
After Wilmer Flores’ sacrifice moved the runners and Jaime intentionally walked Ruben Tejada, Braves left-hander Andrew McKirahan came on to make his debut. Murphy hit his 0-2 pitch deep enough to left field to score Curtis Granderson.
“It’s the old saying, you can’t walk people,” Gonzalez said. “You walk people after we score a run and tie it, get yourself behind the eight ball and somebody is going to face somebody they are not supposed to. It’s not a real comfortable feeling walking the bases loaded facing Murphy with a kid who hadn’t thrown a pitch in the major leagues. And he did a terrific job.”
McKirahan retired Juan Lagares to get out of the eighth inning and got a double-play ball to end a clean ninth. But Braves hitters couldn’t muster one more rally.
They faced their first deficit of the season when Michael Cuddyer smacked a two-run homer off starter Alex Wood in the first inning. They erased it on shortstop Andrelton Simmons’ two-run, two-out triple in the second inning.
The Mets regained the lead in the fourth. Flores led off with a double and Mets starter Bartolo Colon flared a single over the drawn-in infield to score Flores.
It was just the 13th hit in 18 big-league seasons for Colon.
“Fastball, broke his bat,” Wood said. “That’s always fun.”
Wood wasn’t sharp but managed to make it through 6 2/3 innings on 98 pitches (64 strikes). Cuddyer and Flores had the only extra-base hits against Wood but the Mets had batters reach base in five of his six-plus innings.
Wood allowed eight hits while striking out seven batters and walking three.
“These are the type of games that separate between good and great,” Wood said. “I didn’t think I really had much of anything from start to finish. My goal is to give us a chance to win each time out and I felt like I was competitive enough to where I gave us a chance to do that. From that standpoint, I was happy; the rest of it, not so much.”
Colon (2-0) pitched four one-two-three innings for the Mets. Braves third baseman Alberto Callaspo followed Gomes’ home run with a single but Simmons lined out to center and pinch hitter Kelly Johnson grounded out to end the inning.
Colon allowed six hits over seven innings with five strikeouts.
“Pretty much anytime you go against him it’s, ‘How is he doing it?’ ” Gomes said of the 41-year old Colon. “He does a heck of a job and has a blueprint on how to pitch with your fastball.”
The Braves couldn’t score against Mets relief pitchers over the final two innings.
Braves second baseman Jace Peterson singled in the eighth and stole second base with Freddie Freeman at bat. But Freeman struck out to end the inning, and the Braves went down in order in the ninth.
“I don’t think we were all banking on 162-0,” Gomes said. “You win some games, you lose some games. We play the game right.”
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