The Braves have led in 11 of their 16 games this season, but Friday night’s series opener against the Mets wasn’t one of them.
Bud Norris blew early leads in his previous two starts, but the Braves starter put the team in such a hole this time, giving up a Curtis Granderson grand slam in the second inning, they were forced to play catch-up the rest of the way in a 6-3 loss at Turner Field.
Granderson had two homers off Norris to drive in five runs as the Mets handed the Braves their third straight loss, dropping their majors-worst record to 4-12.
“Really kind of frustrating,” said Norris, who gave up five hits, five runs (four earned) and two walks in four innings, his ERA climbing to 6.75 ERA in four starts. “I’ve got to get better. I know I can pitch deeper (in games) and do a lot better.”
Norris (1-3) was pulled after throwing 88 pitches in four innings, replaced by pinch-hitter Jace Peterson when the Braves, trailing 5-2, had two runners on with two out in the fifth. Peterson flied out to end the inning.
“If you could erase that one inning, shoot, he may have pitched six, seven innings,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “But you can’t do that, as much as we want to. They put four up, and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the game.”
The Mets have hit 14 homers in their past four games, while the Braves have no homers in their past 11 games and three all season, less than half of the majors’ next-lowest total.
A.J. Pierzynski had three singles, leaving the Braves catcher one hit shy of 2,000 in his 19-year career. He would be just the 10th catcher to reach that standard.
The Braves got two runs on four hits in the second inning against Matt Harvey, but didn’t score again until a single run in the seventh. Harvey (1-3) lasted five innings and gave up seven hits, and the Braves’ 10 hits marked their second consecutive double-digit hits total in a loss.
“We just haven’t been able to put anybody on base and string anything together,” said Gonzalez, whose Braves had nine singles. “Nobody has split a gap with people on base…. Our offense was good, but that (hits) column isn’t the one that counts. The column that counts is that first one, and we need to put some more runs up there than just one or two.”
Norris has lasted 5 1/3 innings or fewer in the past three of his four starts. He's given up 27 hits, nine walks and five homers in 21 1/3 innings this season. Rookie Casey Kelly pitched three solid innings in his Braves debut to ease the load for the bullpen.
“It’s frustrating,” Norris said. “I want to turn this around as quick as I can, because it’s still April. I know there’s a lot more in the tank.”
After the Mets loaded the bases with one out in the second inning on two walks and a Norris throwing error, Granderson cleared them with line-drive homer on a 2-2 pitch – a belt-high 93 mph fastball over the plate. It was the seventh pitch of the at-bat, after Norris had gotten ahead in the count 0-2.
In 15 starts over two seasons, Norris is 3-10 with a 6.78 ERA and 16 homers allowed in 77 innings. He lost his rotation spot with the Baltimore in late June and spent the rest of the season as a reliever with the Orioles and Padres.
Norris had himself to blame for the trouble in the second inning: He walked Nos. 7-8 hitters Astrubal Cabrera and Travis d’Arnaud, then fielded a Matt Harvey sacrifice attempt and bounced a throw past third base. He needed 59 pitches to get through the first two innings.
After the Braves cut the lead in half with two runs in the bottom of the second, Granderson pushed the margin back to 5-2 with his long, two-out solo homer in the fourth inning. He has eight homers in his past 33 games against the Braves.
It was the 19th career multi-homer game for Granderson and his seventh five-RBI game.
