Mets Hold On to Defeat Braves

Is Braden Looper the new Armando Benitez for the Mets? It seems like every time Looper enters a game, Met fans have to hold their breath. Last night, while not Looper's fault, was no different. The Mets had a 5-3 lead entering the bottom of the 9th, but Looper gave up two hits and one unearned run before closing up the game for a 5-4 Mets win. Two runs in the 8th off Roberto Hernandez, Looper in the game and a couple botched plays by David Wright made the game feel a lot closer than necessary.

Aaron Heilman started the game for the Mets and had a performance reminiscent of his one hitter two starts ago. Heilman pitched 7 innings of 2-hit ball and only allowed 1 run to the Braves. It looked like Heilman would be the tough luck loser until the 6th inning when the Mets knocked Horacio Ramirez out of the game by picking up 5 runs. Mike Piazza had an RBI double, Cliff Floyd had a two run homer, and Wright added his own two-run home run before the inning was over. The 5 run inning was the 7th time the Mets have scored 5 runs in an inning this season.

Tonight, the Mets face the Braves again in a great pitching match-up that features Pedro Martinez against John Smoltz. We're looking forward to it.

Photo by Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara