As encouraged as the Braves were by winning six of seven games against last-place teams to complete an 8-3 road trip Sunday, it couldn’t be overlooked that they hit just .211 in the last nine games of that trip.
And while they fattened up their road record with a 6-1 tear through Houston and Philadelphia, the Braves still needed to figure things out at Turner Field, where they lost 10 of the past 15 before Monday’s homestand opener against the Mets.
For much of the night it looked as if they’d return home with a thud, falling behind 3-0 after three innings and mustering four hits and one run in 6 1/3 innings against Mets starter Zack Wheeler, a Smyrna native. But these are the Mets, and in the eighth inning they came apart as the Braves turned up the pressure.
The Braves used three hits, two walks and three monumental Mets errors in the eighth inning to score four runs and turn a two-run deficit into a 5-3 win that extended their winning streak to five games, matching their season high set in April.
“We were never giving up,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves won for just the second time in 36 games when trailing after the seventh inning. “We never gave any at-bats away. Perfect example of putting the ball in play and funny things (can) happen: bad hops, guys have to make plays. Today we did that.”
Trailing 3-1 entering the eighth, the Braves got consecutive singles from Justin Upton and Jason Heyward to start the inning against hard-throwing right-hander Jeurys Familia. Chris Johnson followed with a comebacker to Familia, who fielded the potential double-play grounder and bounced a throw to second for an error that loaded the bases.
Rookie Tommy La Stella followed with an RBI single to center, and two runs scored on the play when Juan Lagares booted the ball on the bounce and couldn’t pick it up cleanly even after he caught up with it. The score was suddenly tied, and a crowd that had been dormant for much of the night was on its feet and fired up.
One fielder’s choice — Christian Bethancourt hustled to prevent a double play — and a Ryan Doumit pinch-hit walk later, the bases were again loaded. B.J. Upton struck out looking for the second out, but Andrelton Simmons’ grounder to third base went off the glove of Eric Campbell, whose eventual rushed throw to first base was too late.
The go-ahead run scored on that error, and the Braves added one more run when Freddie Freeman drew a bases-loaded walk against lefty Dana Eveland to push the Braves’ lead to 5-3.
“Going into that eighth inning I was just saying I hope we can get one run here, and in the ninth inning put some more pressure on them,” Heyward said. “We came away with four (in the eighth). Some great ABs by me and Justin as far as just taking singles, not big swings there. Keep it simple.
“C.J. put the ball in play, and I hustled my best to get to second. The pitcher ended up making a bad throw. And Ryan Doumit, obviously with his (walk). Tommy La Stella’s been big for us over and over and over again. Good for him, good for us.”
Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 25th save, after Luis Avilian and Anthony Varvaro (3-1) pitched a scoreless inning apiece.
Braves starting pitcher Alex Wood was out of the game and watched as the comeback unfolded, insisting he wasn’t surprised to see his teammates rally.
“It’s one of those things where you sit there and you’re like, it’s just a matter of time, it’s just a matter of time,” said Wood, who settled down after giving up three early runs and pitched six innings, allowing six hits and three runs with one walk and seven strikeouts in the second major league start for catcher Bethancourt.
Heyward agreed with Gonzalez about it being a perfect example of what can happen when balls are put into play and the opponent is forced to make a play under pressure.
“Absolutely,” Heyward said. “Because three-run homers are nice, but they’re hard to come by. Especially against relievers that were coming in and throwing the ball down. Familia was wild some tonight, but he still was throwing down, and it’s tough to get big on those. We took what they gave us.
“Tommy, huge knock again, and Ryan Doumit, that’s a big AB off the bench to be that disciplined and lay off some pitches. And Freddie with another walk there to get us an extra run; it’s nice to have insurance.”
The Mets built a 3-0 lead with a run in each of the first three innings, including a homer by Granderson to start the game. It was third leadoff homer allowed by Wood in nine starts this season, and the 26th for Granderson in his career.
Heyward’s leadoff double in the fourth inning was the first hit for the Braves.
Wheeler struggled with control, walking five and hitting a batter all in the first four innings. But the East Paulding County High graduate limited the damage by striking out Justin Upton with two on to end the third, retiring Christian Bethancourt and Wood with two on in the fourth, and getting Upton to ground into an inning-ending double play after Freeman’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.
The Braves couldn’t get enough hits when it mattered to cash in on those opportunities, going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position during the first seven innings and leaving eight runners on base in those innings.
But when the Mets’ miscues helped open the door in the eighth, the Braves crashed through and took full advantage.
“That (walk) by Doumit in that inning where we scored all those runs, that was a heck of an at-bat against an unbelievable pitcher who’s got pretty nasty stuff,” Wood said, referring to Familia. “So for us to go and do that against him, that’s a big-time rally. We’re playing good baseball right now and hopefully we’ll continue it over to tomorrow.”
