Johan Santana had his start cut short, but New York's bullpen finished what he started, pitching the Mets to a 4-2 victory against the Atlanta Braves to salvage the final game of their four-game set Thursday.
Santana (11-9) snapped a string of three consecutive losses, but he was lifted after only five innings and 65 pitches because of a strained pectoral muscle. He allowed one run on three hits, walked one and struck out three. The only blemish against the left-hander was Brian McCann's 20th home run, a solo shot in the second.
Four Mets relievers combined to finish it off, allowing one run on four hits over four innings. Hisanori Takahashi worked around McCann's leadoff single in the ninth for his third save.
The Mets handed Braves starter Tim Hudson (15-6) his first loss since July 17, snapping his streak of six consecutive victories. Hudson allowed four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits over seven innings.
Mets third baseman David Wright, who entered the game 4-for-50 against the Braves this season, went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in the sixth. Carlos Beltran tripled and scored in the first and added an RBI groundout in the seventh for the Mets, who snapped Atlanta's five-game winning streak and avoided their second four-game sweep on the road this season. New York dropped four at Florida from May 13-16.
NY Mets | Atlanta | |
Johan Santana | Player | Tim Hudson |
Win | W/L | Loss |
5.0 | IP | 7.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 4 |
3 | Hits | 8 |
1.80 | ERA | 3.86 |
NY Mets | Atlanta | |
David Wright | Player | Brian McCann |
2 | Hits | 3 |
1 | RBI | 1 |
1 | HR | 1 |
5 | TB | 6 |
.667 | Avg | .750 |