Mets snap Braves five-game winning streak

Fresh off his career-high 13-strikeout gem against the Marlins on Saturday and winning the National League pitcher of the month award Thursday afternoon, Tim Hudson was making it hard to live up to his own standard.

The Mets made it harder Thursday night.

They jumped on Hudson for two runs in the first inning and tacked on two more late to snag the last of a four-game series 4-2 and snap the Braves’ five-game winning streak.

After scoring only once in five innings off Mets ace Johan Santana, the Braves lost for only the second time in Hudson’s past nine starts. The Braves' lead over Philadelphia in the NL East is at two games after the Phillies defeated the Rockies 12-11.

“Spotting him two in the first isn’t exactly how we wanted to get things going,” Hudson said. “That’s not what you want to do against any front-line starter. We were trying to play catch up the whole night.”

The Braves rallied with a run in the eighth and got the leadoff man on in the ninth, but settled for the loss after Melky Cabrera grounded out to end the game. The Braves finished their homestand 5-2 and head out for six games on the road, where they are only 29-37.

Hudson still made a quality start, allowing three earned runs (and one unearned) in seven innings, but lost for the first time since July 17 against the Brewers. His ERA rose to 2.30 and he fell from first place in the National League to a tie with Adam Wainwright for fourth.

“All his damage came with two outs,” catcher Brian McCann said. “When you’re a sinkerball pitcher, things like that will happen -- seeing-eye singles and the ball that hit off the plate scored a run, but he pitched great.”

In the best pitching showdown of this series, two-time Cy Young award winner Santana threw a little cold water on a Braves lineup that had outscored the Mets 22-6 in the first three games of the series. He limited the Braves to one run on three hits to lower his career ERA against them to 2.28, while moving to 3-6. But he left with a strained pectoral muscle after only 65 pitches.

“Even when he’s not at his best, you still can’t hardly muster anything against the guy,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said. “Knows how to pitch.”

It was his shortest outing against the Braves since his first one in 2002, in his first season as a regular in the Minnesota Twins’ rotation. A McCann homer in the second was his only blemish.

“Johan you’ve got to tip your cap, he pitched a great game,” McCann said. “That’s what he does.”

McCann cut the lead to 2-1 with a two-strike blast to right field in the second inning for his 20th home run of the season. McCann has hit 20 or more home runs in four of his first five full major league seasons.

David Wright came back with one of his own to put the Mets up 3-1 on a solo home run to left field in the sixth. He had hit .080 (4-for-50) against the Braves this season before he went 2-for-3 on Thursday night.

A second Omar Infante error helped the Mets tack on an unearned run in the seventh.

With two runs in the first, the Mets scored more off Hudson in one inning than opponents had scored in six of his previous eight starts.

After getting two quick outs, Hudson allowed five consecutive batters to reach base. It started with a triple by Carlos Beltran on a ball that got past Cabrera in the gap, and he scored on an errant relay throw by Infante. The Mets scored again on a bases-loaded infield hit by Joaquin Arias.