How They Scored

NY METS 1ST:   J Reyes popped out to shortstop.  J Duncan tripled to right.  
J Phillips lined out to second.  C Floyd singled to left, J Duncan scored.  
T Wigginton grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, C Floyd out at second. 
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)  NY METS 1, ATLANTA 0.

ATLANTA 4TH:   A Jones singled to right center.  R Fick flied out to center.  
V Castilla tripled to deep right, A Jones scored.  V Castilla caught stealing 
home, catcher to third. H Blanco flied out to left. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)  
NY METS 1, ATLANTA 1.

ATLANTA 6TH:   G Sheffield flied out to left.  C Jones grounded out to 
second.  A Jones doubled to left center.  R Fick singled to right center, 
A Jones scored.  V Castilla grounded into fielder's choice to third, R Fick out 
at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)  NY METS 1, ATLANTA 2.

NY METS 7TH:   C Floyd fouled out to third.  T Wigginton homered to left.  
T Perez walked.  V Wilson lined out to left.  T Clark hit for R Sanchez. T Clark 
reached on infield single to third, T Perez to second.  R Cedeno hit for 
S Trachsel. J McEwing ran for T Clark. R Cedeno popped out to shallow center. 
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)  NY METS 2, ATLANTA 2.

ATLANTA 9TH:   J Franco relieved D Weathers. V Castilla singled to right.  
H Blanco sacrificed to pitcher, V Castilla to second.  J Franco hit for G Maddux. 
J Franco intentionally walked.  D Bragg ran for J Franco. R Furcal walked, 
V Castilla to third, D Bragg to second.  M Derosa reached on infield single to 
second, V Castilla scored. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)  NY METS 2, ATLANTA 3.

Game Story

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Some extra rest paid off for Greg Maddux 
while facing the New York Mets again was the tonic for Mark
DeRosa.

Maddux pitched his first complete game in exactly two years and
got the win when DeRosa's check-swing grounder scored Vinny
Castilla in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Atlanta Braves
edged the revamped Mets, 3-2.

A week after throwing just 63 pitches in a six-inning stint
against the Chicago Cubs, Maddux (8-8) scattered eight hits and
a walk while striking out three.  He threw 104 pitches en route
to his 103rd career complete game and first since a 4-0 blanking
of Tampa Bay on July 17, 2001.

"Obviously, you'd like to go nine more than once every two,
three years," Maddux said.  "It wasn't that hot tonight, it felt
good.  When you're pitching like (crap), you're not going to
pitch out there that long.  That has more to do with it than
anything else."

"Maddux kept us in there the entire night," Braves manager Bobby
Cox said.  "He was fine.  He had six days' rest.  There was a
little breeze out there."

With the score tied, 2-2, Castilla led off the bottom of the
ninth with a single to right field off 42-year-old John Franco
(0-2).  Henry Blanco sacrificed, pinch hitter Julio Franco was
walked intentionally and Rafael Furcal walked on a 3-1 pitch to
load the bases.

The Mets needed a fifth double play, but DeRosa checked his
swing and hit a roller past the mound.  Second baseman Joe
McEwing was unable to make a barehanded pickup as Castilla
crossed the plate with the winning run.

It was the second hit of the night for DeRosa, who raised his
lifetime average against New York to .394 (26-for-66).

"It was one of the ugliest ways to get a base hit, but I'll take
it," said DeRosa, a New Jersey native.  "I've had three of
those in the last three games.  I think they've totaled a ground
ball to short, all three of them."

"I made the pitch, he just didn't hit it hard enough," John
Franco said.  "I was trying to get him with my pitch - a sinker
away."

Maddux again had trouble in the opening inning.  He gave up a
one-out triple to rookie Jeff Duncan, who scored on Cliff
Floyd's single with two outs.  Of the 80 runs allowed by the
four-time Cy Young Award winner, 28 have come in the first
inning.

But Maddux set down 16 straight hitters until Ty Wigginton
homered with one out in the seventh.

In between, Castilla had an RBI triple in the fourth inning and
Robert Fick singled home Andruw Jones with the go-ahead run in
the sixth.

Mets starter Steve Trachsel kept pace with Maddux, allowing two
runs and eight hits in six innings with two walks and a
strikeout.

"You just go out there and execute pitches," Trachsel said.
"That's the only thing you are expected to do anyway."

This was New York's first game since trading outfielder Jeromy
Burnitz to the Los Angeles Dodgers and closer Armando Benitez to
the New York Yankees.

"I don't want to go there," Mets manager Art Howe said.  "That's
ancient history.  We're going with the people (that we have)
and see how it goes."