How They Scored

ATLANTA 4TH:   M Giles grounded out to third.  G Sheffield walked.  C Jones 
singled to center, G Sheffield to third.  A Jones reached on infield single to 
third, G Sheffield scored, C Jones to second.  R Fick flied out to right.  
V Castilla struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 1, NY METS 0.

NY METS 4TH:   T Perez doubled to shallow right.  M Piazza flied out to 
center.  J Phillips singled to right, T Perez scored.  T Wigginton singled to 
center, J Phillips to third.  M Scutaro hit sacrifice fly to center, J Phillips 
scored, T Wigginton to second advancing on throw.  J Duncan intentionally 
walked.  J Griffiths struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)  
ATLANTA 1, NY METS 2.

ATLANTA 5TH:   H Blanco walked.  G Maddux sacrificed to pitcher, H Blanco to 
second.  R Furcal singled to center, H Blanco scored.  R Furcal stole second. 
M Giles walked.  R Furcal stole third, M Giles stole second. G Sheffield 
intentionally walked.  C Jones grounded into double play, first to shortstop to 
pitcher, G Sheffield out at second.(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 2, NY METS 2.

NY METS 7TH:   J Estrada catching. T Hodges relieved G Maddux. R Gonzalez 
grounded out to shortstop.  R Cedeno walked.  J McEwing singled to right, 
R Cedeno to third.  T Perez hit sacrifice fly to right center, R Cedeno scored.  
M Piazza lined out to right. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)  ATLANTA 2, NY METS 3.

Game Story

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Timo Perez snapped a 
seventh-inning tie with a sacrifice fly and the New York Mets
worked out of a series of jams in a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta
Braves.

Trey Hodges (0-1) replaced Greg Maddux to start the seventh and
walked Roger Cedeno with one out.  Joe McEwing singled to right
to put runners at the corners before center fielder Andruw Jones
made a sliding catch on a drive hit by Perez as Cedeno scored.

The Braves stranded 12 runners, including seven in the last
three innings.

"Normally, we come through in those situations.  We've been
doing it all year," Braves right fielder Gary Sheffield said.
"You're trying to elevate the ball and they throw sinkers down
and in to get you to hit into the double play.  They made the
pitches they had to."

Dan Wheeler (1-2) earned his first National League win by
bailing rookie starter Jeremy Griffiths out of a jam in the
seventh.  Wheeler took over with the bases loaded and got
Sheffield on a foul pop to left field and Chipper Jones on a fly
ball to left.

It was the first win for Wheeler since May 23, 2001 for Tampa
Bay.

David Weathers recorded the final five outs for his sixth save,
dodging trouble in each of the last two innings.

"When you're playing a team like the Braves and they have that
kind of offense, there's no room to take a deep breath,"
Weathers said.  "So many times, people want to talk about stuff
and that kind of thing.  But it's about heart and going out
there when things aren't what they're supposed to be.  You've
got to dig in and get outs."

Weathers got Johnny Estrada to ground into a double play with
the bases loaded to end the eighth.  In the ninth, Weathers
retired the first two batters before Sheffield doubled to right
field.  Chipper Jones was intentionally walked before Andruw
Jones flied out to end the game.

Maddux, who was 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four previous starts
against the Mets this season, pitched six innings and allowed
two runs and seven hits.  The righthander remained 13-12 and
needs two more wins to reach 15 for a record 16th consecutive
season.

"Maddux could have won real easy," Braves manager Bobby Cox
said. "We had our chances, you can't do it every time.  It's not
made to be that way."

The Mets reached Maddux for a pair of runs in the fourth on an
RBI single by Jason Phillips and a sacrifice fly by Marco
Scutaro.

"We dodged some bullets, but the guys pitched well," New York
manager Art Howe said.  "We don't have a lot of power up and
down the lineup, so we have to manufacture some runs like we did
today."

Griffiths, called up from the minors before the game to make his
third major league start, allowed two runs and six hits with
six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

Atlanta got on the board on RBI singles by Andruw Jones in the
fourth and Rafael Furcal in the fifth.

The Braves, however, wasted an opportunity to get even more in
the fifth when Chipper Jones grounded into an inning-ending
double play with the bases loaded.

The Mets played without rookie shortstop Jose Reyes, who is
expected to be sidelined at least three weeks with a sprained
ankle suffered Sunday.