Ross (grand) slams Mets as Braves win fourth straight

The New York Mets cracked open the Braves’ door, then got slammed.

David Ross hit the first grand slam of his career to cap a seven-run fifth inning and send the Braves to a 9-2 win against the Mets on Tuesday night at Turner Field, giving manager Bobby Cox another opportunity to extol the virtues of his popular backup catcher.

"You know, it's a joy to see his face every day in the clubhouse," Cox said of Ross. "He's always full of energy, team-oriented all the time. And he hit the big one tonight, no doubt about it. That was huge."

Jason Heyward’s two-run double in the fifth put the Braves ahead 3-2, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish on the way to their fourth consecutive win and their 43rd in the past 57 games at Turner Field.

The Braves lead the National League with six grand slams, including two apiece by Brian McCann and Brooks Conrad.

Ross also tripled for the Braves, whose 48-18 home record is far and away the best in the majors. They have a three-game lead in the National League East over Philadelphia, which defeated the Dodgers 8-4 Tuesday.

"It was just nice to contribute when B-Mac gets a day off, give him some rest," Ross said, smiling as he spoke of McCann, the All-Star catcher. "He's been playing really well lately. I've got to do good or else I'm not going to get back in there, the way he's been playing."

Braves rookie Mike Minor (3-0) snapped a streak of three consecutive quality starts to begin his career, but got the win and allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings, with three walks and four strikeouts.

The 22-year-old lefty limited the damage in several situations. The Mets left a runner in scoring position in each of the first four innings, stranding eight runners over that period, then mustered only a pair of sacrifice flies off Minor after loading the bases with none out in the fifth.

"Tonight was probably the worst I've felt, of all [four] starts," Minor said. "[Pitching coach] Roger [McDowell] came out there and said, ‘We need damage control right here' [in the fifth]. Luckily I got out of that with two runs and we were only down 2-1, then put up a seven-spot.

"My teammates picked me up right there."

The Braves are watching the rookie's innings in his first full professional season, and Minor was given eight days between starts, twice the regular rest period. He said that might have contributed to his fatigue.

"The last inning I was real frustrated with myself," he said. "The arm didn't feel that great. Not hurt, but just tired. I don't know if it was the 10 days off or however many it was, but I just felt tired and wasn't hitting spots and throwing the way I wanted to."

Cox said, "It looked like he just kind of hit a wall in the fifth inning. ... It wasn't a bad outing by any means. I thought he was cruising pretty good. He only gave up two runs. He's had four really nice starts, I think."

Both Cox and Ross were impressed by Minor's ability to work out of some tough spots.

"He has mound presence and composure," Cox said. "A lot of kids don't when they come up."

The Braves squandered plenty of early opportunities of their own, failing to score after a leadoff single in the first inning, a leadoff double in the second, and Ross’ leadoff triple in the third.

They finally got on the board in the fourth, when Martin Prado hit a leadoff double and scored on Derrek Lee’s single. Lee went 3-for-3 with a walk and has five hits in the first two games of the four-game series.

After the Mets loaded the bases with none out in the fifth on a single and consecutive walks, sacrifice flies by former Braves players Jeff Francoeur and Henry Blanco put the Mets ahead 2-1.

That seemed to snap the Braves to attention, and they capitalized in the fifth on poor pitch location by Mets lefty Jonathon Niese and an error by second baseman Luis Castillo.

Niese hit pinch-hitter Nate McLouth to start the inning. It was the first major league plate appearance in more than a month for McLouth, who was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett.

Omar Infante followed with a grounder that Castillo booted, putting runners on the corners. Heyward then stroked a two-run double to the left-center gap for a 3-2 Braves lead.