Braves-Mets suspended, will be finished Saturday

NEW YORK -- The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves will be even in more ways than one when Friday night's game resumes at 6:10 p.m. Saturday.

"If that first game goes 15 innings, we're going to be in trouble, I don't think there's any question," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "And so will [the Braves]."

Torrential rain forced Friday night's game to be suspended after eight innings with the two teams tied at 5-5. The game -- which began at 7:26, 16 minutes later than scheduled, due to daylong rain -- was in a delay for 75 minutes before the decision to suspend it came just before midnight.

The regularly scheduled game between the two teams is still scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

For much of the delay late Friday night, the two teams thought the game might eventually resume. But the forecast indicated the rain wouldn't let up for several hours.

So now the Mets and Braves will play two, sort of, and hope that the first game is resolved pretty quickly.

"I just hope we get them out and someone walks up there and whacks one out," Collins said. "Have a bite to eat, get ready for the second game."

The Braves and Mets traded dramatic two-run rallies as the skies began opening up in the eighth inning.

Evan Gattis delivered his latest clutch hit in the top of the inning when he laced a tie-breaking pinch-hit two-run single to give the Braves a 5-3 lead.

Gattis, who had homered in three of his last six at-bats entering Friday including a grand slam against the Twins on Wednesday, is hitting .714 (5-for-7) in the pinch this year with three homers and eight RBI.

But the Mets, who earlier came back from a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead, tied the game in the bottom of the inning thanks at least in part to the worsening conditions.

Daniel Murphy's two-out RBI single -- his third hit of the night -- pulled the Mets within 5-4. Ruben Tejada, who was on first, went to third when B.J. Upton misplayed the ball in center field.

Tejada scored when Anthony Varvano's 1-0 pitch skipped past catcher Brian McCann, who had barely corralled Varvano's wet first offering to Rick Ankiel.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he wasn't upset with the umpires' decision to continue playing the game even as the rain intensified.

"I thought it would benefit us as we had the lead," Gonzalez said. "One guy's trying to throw a wet ball and the other guy is trying to hit it with all the rain in their face. You just don't know."

Both starters pitched well but were saddled with no-decisions.

The Mets entered Friday 0-8 in Jeremy Hefner's starts, and he allowed just two runs -- on a mammoth two-run first-inning homer to Freddie Freeman -- on three hits and two walks while striking out seven in six innings. Hefner didn't allow a runner past first after Freeman's homer.

Hefner exited with a 3-2 lead but lost his chance at the win when Dan Uggla led off the seventh by greeting LaTroy Hawkins with a homer to left. Uggla's homer got Kris Medlen -- who allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk over six innings while striking out a season-high nine -- off the hook.

Freeman was 2-for-4 with two runs scored while McCann had a pair of singles for the Braves.

Murphy was 3-for-4 with two runs scored for the Mets. John Buck hit a game-tying homer in the fourth while Lucas Duda and Marlon Byrd each had an RBI single.

NOTES: The temperature at first pitch was 50 degrees but it felt much colder. ... The slumping B.J. Upton and Ike Davis continued their downward spirals on Friday. Upton went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and the costly eighth inning error. Davis also went 0-for-4, striking out four times on just 16 pitches. It was his third four-strikeout game of the season, which ties the franchise record for a season. ... This weekend marks the Braves' first series in New York since Chipper Jones retired. Prior to Friday, the last time the Braves played the Mets in New York without Jones on the roster was Aug. 12, 1993, when their leadoff hitter was Deion Sanders. ... Braves right-handed reliever Jordan Walden, who went on the disabled list last week with right shoulder inflammation, threw off a mound at Citi Field prior to the game and reported no problems. ... Mets right-handed reliever Jeurys Familia, who has been on the disabled list since May 12 with right biceps tendinitis, is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Class A St. Lucie on Saturday. ... Collins said right-handed reliever Frank Francisco, who hasn't pitched this season due to right elbow issues, remains without a timetable for returning to action.