METS SNAP 15-GAME LOSING STREAK
Burnitz Homers Twice, Drive in 4
NEW YORK, May 30 - Jeromy Burnitz hit a pair of home runs and drove in four as
part of a 4-for-4 day and the New York Mets finally put an end to a 15-game skid
by defeating the Atlanta Braves, 6-4, at Shea Stadium. Both of Burnitz's
homers led off innings and the second was followed by a long ball off the bat of
Ty Wigginton--the third time Mets batters have hit back-to-back home runs in a
game this season.
The Braves drew first blood, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when
Chipper Jones drew a lead off walk from Tom Glavine, advanced to second on a
one-out single off the bat of Julio Franco and scored on Vinny Castilla's base
hit. But the Mets tied the game immediately in the bottom of the frame on
Burnitz's sixth home run of the season.
New York took the lead for good in the third. Roger Cedeno singled with
one out and took third on Rey Sanchez's base hit. Atlanta starter Greg
Maddux (4-7) struck out Roberto Alomar for the second out but then walked Cliff
Floyd, filling the bases. Burnitz then grounded a single through the left
side, giving the Mets a 3-1 advantage.
The Braves cut the deficit in half in the fifth. Maddux led off with a
single and moved to third one out later on Mark DeRosa's base hit. Gary
Sheffield then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, making the score 3-2.
But the Mets got the run back in the bottom half of the inning. The speedy
Cedeno laced a triple into the right field corner and scored one out later when
Alomar lifted a sacrifice fly to right.
In the sixth, the Mets expanded their lead to 6-2 when Burnitz and Wigginton hit
consecutive bombs off Maddux.
The Braves drew closer in the seventh, with some help from the New York
defense. Facing reliever David Weathers, pinch hitter Robert Fick lined a
one-out single and moved to second when Rafael Furcal drew a four-pitch
walk. DeRosa then rolled a weak grounder to the right side that was booted
by first baseman Clark for an error, loading the bases. Weathers
compounded the problem by hitting Sheffield with a pitch, forcing in a
run. Chipper Jones then hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Furcal to
cut the deficit to 6-4.
That was still the score when Atlanta came to bat in the top of the ninth.
Mets closer Armando Benitez struck out pinch hitter Matt Franco and Furcal to
open the inning but DeRosa bounced a single through the box and Sheffield drew a
walk, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. But Benitez reared back and
fired a 1-2 fastball past Chipper Jones to end the game and the New York losing
streak.
5/30/2003, Atl03-NYM03, Shea Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Braves 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 4 7 0 9 0 2003 Mets 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 0 x 6 11 1 6 0 Braves AB R H BI AVG Mets AB R H BI AVG Furcal ss 4 1 0 0 .329 Cedeno rf 4 2 2 0 .283 DeRosa 2b 5 0 2 0 .279 Sanchez,R ss 4 1 1 0 .167 Sheffield rf 2 0 1 2 .308 Alomar,R 2b 3 0 1 1 .284 Jones,C lf 2 1 0 1 .247 Floyd lf 3 0 1 0 .260 Jones,A cf 4 0 0 0 .235 Shinjo pr 0 0 0 0 .134 Franco,Ju 1b 4 0 1 0 .373 Burnitz cf 4 2 4 4 .304 Castilla 3b 4 0 1 1 .277 Benitez p 0 0 0 0 1.000 Blanco c 3 0 0 0 .091 Wigginton 3b 4 1 1 1 .263 Lopez,JT ph 1 0 0 0 .378 Clark,T 1b 4 0 0 0 .205 Maddux p 2 1 1 0 .185 Wilson,V c 4 0 0 0 .241 Fick ph 1 1 1 0 .312 Glavine,T p 2 0 0 0 .130 Holmes p 0 0 0 0 .000 Phillips,JL ph 1 0 1 0 .278 King p 0 0 0 0 .000 Weathers p 0 0 0 0 .000 Franco,M ph 1 0 0 0 .340 Franco,Jo p 0 0 0 0 .000 33 4 7 4 Gonzalez,R ph 1 0 0 0 .309 34 6 11 6 Braves INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Maddux L 4-7 6.0 9 6 6 1 4 95 66 3.93 Holmes 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 10 8 4.76 King 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 13 8 2.55 8.0 11 6 6 1 6 118 82 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Glavine,T W 5-5 6.0 5 2 2 2 1 90 56 4.60 Weathers H 4 1.0 1 2 0 1 0 19 9 2.73 Franco,Jo H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 13 8 0.00 Benitez S 11 1.0 1 0 0 1 3 23 12 2.22 9.0 7 4 2 4 4 145 85 Atl: Fick batted for Maddux in the 7th Lopez,JT batted for Blanco in the 8th Lopez,JT moved to c in the 8th Franco,M batted for King in the 9th NYM: Phillips,JL batted for Glavine,T in the 6th Shinjo ran for Floyd in the 7th Shinjo moved to cf in the 8th Burnitz moved to lf in the 8th Gonzalez,R batted for Franco,Jo in the 8th Gonzalez,R moved to lf in the 9th E-Clark,T. 3B-Cedeno(4). HR-Burnitz 2(7), Wigginton(5). RBI-Sheffield 2(35), Jones,C(33), Castilla(27), Alomar,R(16), Burnitz 4(16), Wigginton(28). K-Furcal, Jones,C, Jones,A, Franco,M, Alomar,R, Floyd, Clark,T, Wilson,V 2, Glavine,T. BB-Furcal, Sheffield, Jones,C 2, Floyd. SF-Sheffield, Jones,C, Alomar,R. HBP-Sheffield. HB-Weathers. GWRBI: Burnitz Temperature: 66, Sky: cloudy, Wind: none. Attendance: 27,013 Game Time: 2:40