Maholm pitches Braves past Mets

NEW YORK -- Atlanta Braves catcher David Ross was a little concerned when starting pitcher Paul Maholm seemed to labor during his pregame bullpen Friday.

As it turned out, it was the New York Mets who had plenty to worry about.

Maholm continued his red-hot pitching by throwing a three-hit shutout and Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla each hit two-run homers as the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets, 4-0, in front of a crowd of 25,101 at Citi Field Friday night.

"He was masterful," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He had all of his pitches working."

Maholm (10-7) needed just 95 pitches to complete the fourth shutout of his career. The win was his first as a member of the Braves, who maintained their lead in the National League wild card race. The Mets fell to 8-19 since the All-Star Break.

"That's kind of the catcher's dream right there," Ross said. "I could have thrown a thumb down and he would have made a good pitch. It didn't matter. That's a lot of fun for a catcher."

Maholm, whom the Braves acquired from the Chicago Cubs on July 30, allowed one run or less for the seventh time in his last eight starts, a stretch in which he's lowered his ERA from 5.38 to 3.50. Maholm faced just 29 batters -- two over the minimum -- and struck out five while walking none.

"The warmup wasn't smooth, but it's a warmup," Maholm said. "My main goal was to get in the game, mix speeds, challenge them down and get ground balls. And the guys made a bunch of great plays."

The Braves' defense bailed Maholm out when the Mets made their lone threat in the sixth inning. Jason Bay led off with a long fly ball to center field, but Michael Bourn made a running, over-the-shoulder catch.

Rob Johnson followed with a double, ending a streak of 11 straight batters retired by Maholm, and went to third on Justin Turner's groundout. Andres Torres then broke his bat as he hit a grounder to short. The bat and the ball both sailed towards Paul Janish, who managed to cleanly field the ball and throw Torres out.

Uggla's two-run homer in the eighth -- his first round-tripper since July 8 -- provided insurance for the Braves.

"The last (homer) with Danny there was big," Gonzalez said."(To) go back out in the eighth inning with a four-run lead instead of a two-run lead was nice."

Johnson was the only runner to get as far as third base for the Mets against Maholm. Ruben Tejada went 0-for-4 for the Mets as his career-high 14-game hitting streak ended.

"No consistent pattern -- first pitch curveballs, some first-pitch sliders, some first-pitch fastballs, some changeups," Mets manager Terry Collins said of Maholm. "Really kept us off-balance and we didn't adjust very good."

Matt Harvey (1-3) recovered from a rough first inning to last six innings in his first career start at Citi Field. Harvey retired the last nine batters he faced and allowed just two hits and five walks while striking out three. He recorded all three whiffs over his final nine-batter span.

"I was very impressed with him after he battled through the first two innings," Collins said. "Really settled down, just kind of settled into a nice, easy groove."

Harvey's much-anticipated first start at Citi Field didn't begin in encouraging fashion as he walked leadoff batter Bourn and gave up a one-out, two-run homer to Heyward in the first. Harvey needed a whopping 33 pitches to escape the first and threw 68 pitches in his first three innings.

Harvey struck out 23 and walked seven over 16 1/3 innings in his first three major league starts -- the 23 whiffs were the most in Mets history by a pitcher in his first three starts -- but issued five walks before recording his first strikeout Friday.

Harvey, the seventh overall pick of the 2010 draft, also gave the Mets a scare when he was hit on the right leg by a line drive off the bat of Freddie Freeman in the third. But Harvey stayed in the game after a quick discussion with Collins.

Maholm, meanwhile, was impressively effective as he needed just 48 pitches to face the minimum through five innings. Maholm committed an error in the first and allowed a one-out single to Daniel Murphy in the second but induced double play grounders to get out of both innings.

NOTES: Johan Santana is scheduled to come off the disabled list and start for the Mets Saturday night. Collins said Santana, who has been on the shelf since July 21 with a right ankle sprain, will be limited to about90 pitches against the Braves. Santana is 3-5 with a 6.54 ERA in eight starts since he threw the first no-hitter in Mets history June 1. ... The Mets signed right-handed reliever Drew Carpenter and sent him to Class AA Binghamton. Carpenter was designated for assignment earlier this week by the Blue Jays after recording a 5.00 ERA in six relief appearances. ... Braves third baseman Chipper Jones was scratched from the lineup with a sore back. Jones said his back is often sore after sleeping at the Grand Hyatt, where the Braves stay while in New York. Jones, making his penultimate visit to Citi Field as an active player, elicited uproarious laughter from reporters as he discussed the feedback he got from the Hyatt after he Tweeted his displeasure Thursday with the television, the bed and the air conditioner in his room. "Now I can't order room service either," Jones said. ... Braves catcher Brian McCann, who has been battling a sore right shoulder for weeks, was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game. McCann had a cortisone shot Tuesday and was hopeful it would take effect in time for him to return to action Saturday.... Left-hander Jair Jurrjens was scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Class AAA Gwinnett Friday. Jurrjens has been out since Aug. 1 with a right groin strain.