Mets 7, Braves 5
ATLANTA -- Pinch hitter Jordany Valdespin sparked a two-out rally in the tenth inning as the New York Mets beat Atlanta 7-5 on Friday at Turner Field, handing the Braves their third straight loss.
Valdespin worked a two-out walk from Atlanta reliever Jordan Walden (1-1), stole second and scored on Ruben Tejada's single to left. The Mets added an insurance run on Daniel Murphy's single off Luis Avilan and won the opener of the three-game series between the NL East rivals.
The winning pitcher was Bobby Parnell (2-0). Jeurys Familia worked a scoreless 10th inning to earn his first career save.
The Braves took the lead in the eighth inning when Evan Gattis hit his seventh home run of the season, a long shot to center field. But Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel blew his second save of the season when David Wright hit a towering home run, his fourth of the year, with one out in the ninth that tied the game 5-5.
The Braves wasted a stellar performance by starting pitcher Mike Minor, who allowed three hits -- two of them home runs -- and three runs over the first two innings but retired 18 in a row before being lifted for a pinch hitter.
Minor left with a 4-3 lead, but reliever Eric O'Flaherty allowed a leadoff homer to Marlon Byrd that tied the game. It was the second homer of the season for Byrd, who grew up in the Atlanta suburbs and played a season at Georgia Tech. It was the first homer allowed by O'Flaherty since June 7, 2012 at Miami.
Atlanta had a chance to win it in the ninth when Ramiro Pena doubled and went to third on a sacrifice. The threat ended when Parnell got Jordan Schafer to fly to shallow center and retired Justin Upton on a grounder to third.
The Mets scored in the first inning on John Buck's two-out two-run homer. It was Buck's 10th of the season, two short of his total from 2012 with Miami. Lucas Duda hit his sixth homer to lead off the second inning and give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
The Braves got a run in the third inning. B.J. Upton ended an 0-for-14 streak with a leadoff double and scored when Juan Francisco ended an 0-for-6 streak with an RBI single up the middle.
Francisco was sacrificed to second base, but was thrown out when he fell trying to return to the base. Francisco rolled his right ankle and collapsed, allowing Buck to easily throw him out. Francisco, listed day-to-day by the trainers, was helped off the field and replaced at third base by Ramiro Pena.
Atlanta tied the game 3-3 and chased Mets starter Shaun Marcum with a two-run rally in the fifth inning. Andrelton Simmons singled in one run, which caused manager Terry Collins to bring in reliever LaTroy Hawkins. The veteran lefty allowed a sacrifice fly to Justin Upton, but struck out Freddie Freeman to end the inning.
Notes: RF Jason Heyward has been walking on a treadmill and riding a stationary bicycle as he begins his return following an appendectomy. Heyward hopes to return before the end of the month. ... Atlanta third baseman Chris Johnson remained adamant that he should have received an error for botching a ground ball that allowed two Washington runners to score on Thursday. The official scorer originally ruled it an error but changed his mind, which added two earned runs to starter Kris Medlen's tally. "I have never heard of a player voluntarily saying it was an error. He felt it was a play he should have made," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. ... The weather forecast for Saturday is for rain. The Braves have had only one weather delay all year, that a postponement at Colorado for snow.
