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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- Tom Glavine restored order to a wild weekend at
Shea Stadium, keeping John Rocker in the bullpen and the Braves in
first place.
Glavine shut New York down for seven innings to win his first
game in six weeks, and Javy Lopez homered twice as Atlanta gained a
split of the four-game series with a 10-2 win over the New York
Mets on Sunday.
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Shea thrower arrested
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NEW YORK (AP) -- A Brooklyn man was charged with reckless
endangerment Sunday after throwing a baseball at John Rocker during
the New York Mets' 10-2 loss to Atlanta.
Gregory Sweeney, 25, was arrested around 3:30 p.m. when police
say he threw a ball at Rocker after the Braves reliever tossed it
into the stands. Rocker had been warming up outfielder Reggie
Sanders.
Rocker's presence this weekend brought out about 700 police
officers to each game at Shea. He has repeatedly enflamed New
Yorkers' emotions with derogatory comments about the city, but
apologized Thursday before the series opener.
In other trouble surrounding the last of the Mets four-game
series with the Braves, police issued 272 summonses for people with
open beer containers and charged 64 people with ticket scalping.
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"We're in the same position today as when we came in," Glavine
said. "If we had lost, we would have been tied. Now, we're two
games up. From that standpoint, these are big games. It's still too
early to get too excited. A lot of things could change before we
play again."
A lot happened this weekend.
The series featured a tense opening game which the Braves won
thanks to Rocker's perfect inning of relief, a dramatic 10-run
eighth inning by the Mets in the second game, and Greg Maddux's
shortest start in four seasons on Saturday.
Glavine and Lopez made sure there was no such excitement in the
finale, as Atlanta jumped out to a 7-0 lead after five innings to
move two games in front of the Mets in the NL East.
"We could have rolled over after losing those two games,"
Atlanta's Brian Jordan said. "Instead we came out and played hard.
We're happy with the split."
With a big lead, there was no need for manager Bobby Cox to call
on Rocker, who was unavailable the last two games after splitting
open a callous on his left thumb Friday. He warmed up in the ninth
inning Sunday, but wasn't needed.
"I could have pitched," he said. "I was ready to pitch but
they didn't need me. I think in the long run they do need me. I'm
glad it's over."
The despised reliever -- whose presence this weekend brought
about 700 police officers and a media circus to Shea Stadium -- made
a brief appearance on the field by warming up left fielder Reggie
Sanders before the eighth inning.
The crowd of 45,261 booed as Rocker played catch with police
protection. He then tossed the ball into the stands and walked back
to the bullpen and sat down under Rocker's Roof -- the specially
constructed awning to protect him.
A fan threw Rocker's ball back on the field, drawing cheers from
the Mets fans that the reliever insulted last year and apologized
to on Thursday.
"In the back of my mind, I thought something might happen,"
Jordan said. "New York did a great job with security and the fans
were really studious. They love their Mets and they showed it."
Mike Piazza homered for the third straight game, hitting a solo
shot in the Mets seventh to give him an RBI in 15 straight games --
two behind the major league record. He also has a 20-game hitting
streak.
There wasn't much else for Mets fans to get excited about.
Lopez hit a solo homers in the third and ninth inning and added
an RBI single in the fifth for Atlanta. It was his 11th career
multihomer game and first this season.
|  | | Tom Glavine's win on Sunday helped the Braves split a four-game series. |
The Mets, who had won nine of 10 games, have not beaten the
Braves in a series since September 1998 -- a span of seven series,
including last year's NLCS. Atlanta has won 25 of the last 35 games
between the teams.
"I don't think anything was lost this weekend," Mets manager
Bobby Valentine said. "We came in with a pretty hot streak knowing
that streak would come to an end. We went 2-2. That's pretty
good."
Glavine (8-5), who had lost four straight decisions since
beating San Diego on May 21, was efficient and silenced the crowd
for six innings. He kept the Mets off-balance with his tantalizing
changeup and pitched ahead in the count.
The left-hander allowed back-to-back homers to Piazza and Todd
Zeile with one out in the seventh but got out of the inning without
further damage and was replaced by Jason Marquis.
"The difference was that Glavine did a better job holding us
down," Zeile said. "He's a quality pitcher and a big-game
pitcher. He knew this was a big game."
The Braves did most of their damage early, as every starter had
a hit off Glendon Rusch (6-6) by the fifth inning. Atlanta jumped
ahead with a four-run second, breaking a stretch in which the Mets
outscored them 19-1 since the bottom of the eighth Friday.
Andres Galarraga led off with a single, went to third on
Sanders' double that right fielder Derek Bell nearly made a
spectacular diving catch on. A sacrifice fly by Walt Weiss and an
RBI single by Keith Lockhart, playing for the sick Chipper Jones,
made it 2-0. Glavine then singled and Quilvio Veras capped the
inning with a two-run double.
Game
notes
Rusch, who had won five of six decisions, allowed seven
runs and 13 hits in five-plus innings. ... Jones missed the game
with flu-like symptoms, and SS Rafael Furcal sat out with a
strained right hamstring. ... Mets OF Jay Payton missed the game
with a sore left wrist. ... Ray Grimes of the Cubs drove in runs in
17 straight games in 1922. ... Piazza has 24 homers and 71 RBI on
the season. ... Glavine had been 0-4 with a 4.79 ERA in his last
seven starts.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
NY Mets Clubhouse
Rocker ruckus gives way to interesting baseball drama
RECAPS
Cleveland 7
Minnesota 1
NY Yankees 5
Tampa Bay 2
Baltimore 3
Toronto 2
Chi. White Sox 8
Boston 2
Detroit 2
Kansas City 0
Oakland 10
Anaheim 3
Seattle 11
Texas 4
Atlanta 10
NY Mets 2
Florida 2
Montreal 1
Philadelphia 9
Pittsburgh 1
Milwaukee 4
Chicago Cubs 2
Houston 6
St. Louis 3
Cincinnati 14
Arizona 2
Colorado 3
San Diego 2
San Francisco 6
Los Angeles 5
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Javy Lopez is happy to split the series in New York.
wav: 116 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Brian Jordan is happy to take two from the host Mets.
wav: 152 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Tom Glavine is happy to leave New York without losing ground.
wav: 116 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Todd Zeile tips his hat to Tom Glavine.
wav: 183 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Javy Lopez explains Tom Galvine's success Sunday.
wav: 364 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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