Rod Barajas had two hits, including a two-run double, and Mike Pelfrey and the New York Mets' bullpen made it stand up for a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves to snap their five-game losing streak Monday.
The Mets came in with the league's worst road record at 4-12, including a 1-8 mark away from home so far this month. But they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Barajas' second-inning double off Derek Lowe and pushed the lead to 3-1 on Chris Carter's RBI groundout in the sixth.
That was enough for Pelfrey (5-1), who picked up his first win in May after going 4-0 in April. He allowed two runs on seven hits before leaving with two outs in the eighth.
The Braves loaded the bases in the eighth, but Pedro Feliciano struck out Brian McCann to end the threat. They mounted another threat in the ninth as Yunel Escobar drew a two-out walk and stole second, but Francisco Rodriguez struck out Nate McLouth to finish off his sixth save in eight opportunities.
Lowe (5-4) went seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits.
Atlanta's Eric Hinske continued his hot hitting in place of the injured Matt Diaz, going 3-for-4 with a solo home run in the fifth to raise his average to .389. Martin Prado and McLouth added two hits apiece for the Braves.
NY Mets | Atlanta | |
Michael Pelfrey | Player | Derek Lowe |
Win | W/L | Loss |
7.2 | IP | 7.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 3 |
7 | Hits | 4 |
2.35 | ERA | 3.86 |
NY Mets | Atlanta | |
Rod Barajas | Player | Eric Hinske |
2 | Hits | 3 |
2 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
3 | TB | 7 |
.500 | Avg | .750 |