After losing early lead, Braves bounce back to beat Mets 5-3 in Atlanta

By Adam Rubin
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Thursday, July 16th 2009, 10:32 PM

Chappell/Reuters

Oliver Perez allowed three runs on five hits in six innings of work against the Braves.

ATLANTA - Which Met will be the first off the DL is anyone's guess. By then, it doesn't look like it will matter anyway.

A three-day break did little to alter the state of the Mets, who opened their second half with a 5-3 loss to the Braves Thursday night. Combined with the Phillies win over the Marlins in Miami, the fourth-place Mets (42-46) dropped a season-high 71/2 games off the division lead.

Bobby Parnell surrendered the tiebreaking single to Chipper Jones - who else? - in the seventh, which scored Brooks Conrad. Pedro Feliciano (2-3) had walked the pinch-hitting Conrad to open the inning and departed with one out. Parnell entered and surrendered consecutive singles to Martin Prado and Jones as the Braves took a 4-3 lead.

It was a discouraging day all around, with GM Omar Minaya offering little evidence that any of the Mets' injured stars would be back this month. Carlos Beltran's bone bruise hasn't healed enough to begin running. Jose Reyes hasn't yet cut loose on the basepaths in Port St. Lucie. And Carlos Delgado isn't projected to return from hip surgery until mid-August.

At least Oliver Perez and Derek Lowe pitched to a draw Thursday night, each allowing three runs on five hits in six innings. So maybe the Mets didn't get the short end in deciding to re-sign Perez for $36 million over three years after passing on Lowe, who was signed for four years, $60 million by the Braves (44-45).

Or maybe not.

Hitless until Luis Castillo was credited with an infield single to open the fourth, the Mets rallied in that frame for their only runs of the night. David Wright and Gary Sheffield followed Castillo's hit with singles against Lowe, the latter driving in Castillo. Jeff Francoeur contributed an RBI groundout in his return to Turner Field, six days after he was swapped by the Braves for Ryan Church. Daniel Murphy added an RBI double to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.

But Perez, who had given up back-to-back homers to Yunel Escobar and Garret Anderson in the second inning, let Atlanta tie the game right back up in the bottom of the fourth. Righty-hitting Matt Diaz, starting over Church in right field against the southpaw Perez, drove home Brian McCann from first with a double into the left field corner, McCann scoring just under Brian Schneider's tag on a strong relay from Alex Cora.

Church entered as a pinch-runner for Anderson in the eighth. The ex-Met scored on pinch-hitter Greg Norton's single off Pat Misch, giving Atlanta a two-run cushion.

Perez, coming off a start against the Dodgers in his return from the DL in which he walked seven but was credited with a victory, this time walked four (one intentionally) and threw just 58 of 101 pitches for strikes.

Francoeur, a hometown product who came up through the Braves' system after being drafted by the organization in the first round in 2002, was warmly received by the Turner Field crowd. He had a quiet night, though, going 0-for-4 with the RBI groundout. In his first at-bat, Francoeur lined out to second baseman Martin Prado, who doubled Sheffield off first base. Lowe struck out Francoeur looking in the sixth. Peter Moylan retired Francoeur on a weak groundout to shortstop two innings later.