Braves 4 - Mets 3

Ninth-inning rallies are beautiful things, even when they fall about 90 feet short.

It began with a false start, as Miguel Cairo reached on an infield single, provoking the loudest of several "We Want Cairo" chants among the remaining fans, only to have our hopes seemingly dashed by Victor Diaz's GIDP.

With the bases empty and 2 outs, Valent and Reyes hit consecutive doubles, bringing the Mets within 2 and the tying run to the plate. Matsui had already sauntered into the box and taken a few practice swings before Beltran, who was on deck, tapped him on the shoulder to tell him that his services were no longer required.

The crowd, at about half its original size, went absolutely bonkers at the sight of number 31 climbing out of the dugout. He didn't disappoint, drilling a grounder through the middle, scoring Reyes from third and prolonging the inning for Beltran. Carlos promptly roped a long single to right center, moving Piazza, representing the tying run, to third.

Pedro's rough first inning, and Smoltz's strong outing, which had made this rally necessary, had both all but faded from memory by now. It felt like the Mets had been down to their final out for a very long time, and in fact they had. Four hits later, it was clear that Braves closer Danny Kolb was throwing 94mph beach balls, and a comeback win was all but certain. Cox had seen enough, and brought in the unknown lefty John Foster to face Cliff Floyd.

Floyd, along with Wright, had carried the offense to that point, and doesn't struggle against lefties, so it was almost shocking to see him pop up Foster's second pitch to end the game. I was disappointed to see them lose, but left Shea completely cured of any fears that the Mets are still the team that could never really keep up with the perennial division champs. They are vastly better, and the Braves might be a little bit worse.

Notes

The Bravos got to Glavine in a big way this afternoon, as they always do. He's a spy I swear to God. Plus my boy Heath gave up a solo job to Andruw "Don't Call Me Andrew" Jones. Mets trail 8-3, but it's early yet.