Glavine Finds Rare Success Against Braves With 6-Hitter
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Tom Glavine pitched a six-hitter to beat his former team and Cliff Floyd hit his career-high 32nd homer, leading the Mets over the Atlanta Braves 4-1 yesterday.
Glavine (11-13) got Jeff Francoeur to bounce back to the mound to fin ish his 54th career complete game and his first since a 4-0 victory over Colorado on May 23, 2004. He was pleased with being able to go the distance in his 273rd career win.
“Not because of my personal relationship with them, but because they’re a good team,” Glavine said. “Any time you get a complete game against anybody it’s nice, particularly against a first-place club that’s had success against you.”
Victor Diaz and Carlos Beltran each added an RBI double during a four-run sixth inning, helping the Mets end another frustrating season against their NL East rivals by taking two of three over the weekend. Atlanta won the season series 13-6, its fifth straight year with double-digit victories against New York.
No Met had been more frustrated by the Braves than Glavine, who entered 1-8 with a 7.85 ERA in 11 career appearances against the team he won two Cy Young Awards with. But he snapped a personal three-game losing streak and won for the first time since August 22.
The Braves lost for the fifth time in seven games. They began the day with a five-game lead over Philadelphia, and host the Phillies in a three-game series starting Tuesday.
Thomson (3-5) took a three-hitter into the sixth before allowing the first four batters to score. Jose Reyes drew a leadoff walk and scored on Diaz’s double. Beltran followed with another run-scoring double before Floyd hit the next pitch over the 396-foot sign in right-center for his 200th homer and a 4-1 lead.
“I always believe hitting is contagious,” Floyd said. “You start getting a couple of hits, you don’t go up there thinking. You put the pitcher in a bind. Once you get somebody having to think a little bit, then you’ve got him.”
The Braves quickly put runners at the corners to open the seventh, but Glavine struck out Brian Jordan and got Johnny Estrada to ground into an inning-ending double play.
“I had a lot of people pouring dirt on my grave earlier in the year,” he said.
But Glavine has worked at making his routine less predictable, and the results have come. He’s allowed three earned runs or fewer in eight straight starts – though he is only 3-4 during that span because of the Mets’ inconsistent offense.