ATLANTA – Andruw Jones homered and drove in four runs off former teammate Tom Glavine, and the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep of the New York Mets with a 6-5 victory Sunday.
Eli Marrero and Chipper Jones each had three hits for the Braves, who won their fifth straight, and seventh in eight games, to move a season-high 12 games over .500 (58-46).
Glavine (8-9) continued his recent slide, losing for the sixth time in eight starts, and he fell to 1-5 against Atlanta, where he played the first 16 seasons of his career. Andruw Jones improved to 7-for-15 (.467) against Glavine with three home runs.
In five innings, Glavine gave up six runs on nine hits.
Paul Byrd (3-3) retired 15 of the first 16 batters he faced through five hitless innings before faltering in the sixth with a 6-0 lead. He lost his bid for a no-hitter when David Wright led off with a solo homer to left, then left after Cliff Floyd’s three-run shot later in the inning.
The Mets got within 6-5 on Mike Cameron’s home run off Antonio Alfonseca to start the seventh, but newly acquired Tom Martin came on to retire pinch-hitter Gerald Williams and Jose Reyes on easy flyballs to end the threat.
Martin was traded to the Braves a day earlier by Los Angeles, and arrived in town about 5:30 a.m. Sunday.
John Smoltz allowed a one-out single in the ninth to Cameron, who then stole second, but struck out Vance Wilson and Wright for his 25th save in 27 chances.
Glavine got two quick outs in the first before walking J.D. Drew, and Chipper Jones followed with a ground-rule double over Richard Hidalgo in right. An infield single by Julio Franco scored Drew, and Andruw Jones lined a hit off the glove of shortstop Kaz Matsui to bring home Chipper Jones.
Marrero grounded a single through the right side to score Franco for a 3-0 lead.
Andruw Jones’ homer in the fifth made it 6-0, an opposite-field shot to right that Hidalgo narrowly missed.
All the while, Byrd was cruising. The only base runner he allowed through five innings was Glavine, who walked. But things fell apart quickly for Byrd in the sixth, with the two homers cutting Atlanta’s lead to 6-4.
He gave up four hits in 5 2-3 innings, walked one and struck out five.
Notes: Andruw Jones’ homer was his first since July 20. … Piazza made his first start at first base during the series and finished 0-for-4. He mistakenly fielded a grounder headed toward 2B Reyes in the fifth, which turned into a hit for Drew. … Byrd threw 91 pitches, including 62 for strikes.
AP-ES-08-01-04 1616EDT
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