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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ATLANTA (AP) -- The Atlanta Braves made it look easy, again.
This time it was the pitching of Andy Ashby and a season-high
seven-run second inning.
|  | | Javy Lopez tripled, singled and drove in three runs during the Braves' seven-run second inning Tuesday against the Mets. |
Javy Lopez tripled, singled and drove in three runs during the
big inning as the Braves beat the Mets 12-4 Tuesday night,
continuing their domination at Turner Field over New York.
Given a big lead, Ashby (11-12) pitched the Braves to their 20th
win in the last 22 games against the Mets at home.
The Braves won their fourth in a row overall and expanded their
lead over the Mets in the NL East to five games with 11 games left,
their largest since Aug. 1 when it was 5½ games.
"Good pitching and good hitting," said Atlanta third baseman
Chipper Jones of Atlanta's success against the Mets.
"Our starting pitching has been fantastic, but I'm not taking
anything for granted. The Mets are a very good team," he said. "I
certainly like our chances if we go six games up with 10 to go, but
until the magic number is zero, I'm not counting them out."
Said Braves manager Bobby Cox: "I don't have any theories. I
have no clue. I wouldn't even know about it if one of you guys
hadn't told me."
The Mets lost their third consecutive game. They began the day
with a five-game lead over Arizona, which played at Los Angeles, in
the wild card race.
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Mets prepare for Rocker at Shea
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The New York Times reports that security at Shea Stadium will be
increased for John Rocker's second visit this season for the Braves-Mets
series next Monday through Wednesday.
Mets officials will meet this week with police and an increased
police presence is expected for the series, said David Howard, the Mets'
senior vice president for business affairs.
For a typical game, fewer than 50 police officers are assigned to
Shea. When the Braves visited Shea in late June and early July for the first
time since Rocker made his remarks, more than 600 officers roamed the
stands. The Mets will not deploy as many this time, Howard said, but "it
will still be a noticeable police presence."
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"It wasn't very devastating. I'm not demoralized," Mets
manager Bobby Valentine said. "I'm not frustrated. If you have a
better word, throw it out. I'm angry."
The Mets, who held a one-half game lead over the Braves entering
September, are only 6-12 this month while Atlanta has gone 11-6.
"I just haven't prepared them to play," said Valentine. "We're a good team. We just haven't played well recently. We have
to play better the next 11 games."
Ashby won his third straight start. The right-hander allowed
five hits and one unearned run in seven innings. He walked none and
struck out six.
Ashby is 7-5 with the Braves after being obtained in a trade
with Philadelphia on July 12. He shut out the Mets 1-0 on a
four-hitter in his only other start against New York on July 23.
"It feels great to be a part of this whole thing," he said.
"These guys have been going out and winning for a long time."
The Braves beat the Mets 6-3 Monday night in the opener of the
three-game series behind Greg Maddux, who ran his scoreless streak
to 29 inning by blanking New York over seven innings.
The Braves are 6-3 head-to-head with the Mets this season and
4-1 at Turner with one game remaining in Atlanta on Wednesday
night. The teams play three times next week in New York.
Glendon Rusch (10-11) managed to last only 1 2/3 innings as the
Braves got to the left-hander for five hits and six runs -- two
earned -- in his brief outing, which was aided by an error by third
baseman Robin Ventura on a grounder by Ashby.
Andres Galarraga opened the second inning with a double and
Lopez tripled him home. Reggie Sanders followed with an RBI double
and stole third before Walt Weiss grounded.
But Ashby's bouncer to Ventura was misplayed for an error,
scoring Sanders. With two outs, Andruw Jones walked and Chipper
Jones, who went 3-for-3 with a walk and a sacrifice fly, hit an RBI
single.
Chipper Jones is hitting .500 (12-for-24) against the Mets this
season.
Brian Jordan drew a walk from reliever Pat Mahomes, loading the
bases. Galarraga also walked, forcing home a run, and Lopez
followed with a two-run single to cap the seven-run inning.
Galarraga added a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Rafael Furcal
hit a solo home run -- his third -- in the sixth. Andruw Jones drove
in two runs with a double and Chipper Jones added a sacrifice fly
in a three-run seventh for the Braves.
The Mets scored off Ashby on Timoniel Perez's RBI single in the
fifth. Todd Pratt had an RBI single in a three-run eighth.
Game notes
The Braves had two six-run innings this season, the last at
Milwaukee on May 23. It was the most runs allowed in an inning by
the Mets this season. ... Braves OF B.J. Surhoff, who pulled his
right quadriceps on Sept. 7, made his second appearance as a
pinch-hitter in the seventh and walked. ... Keith Lockhart singled
in the seventh for his first hit in 25 at-bats as a pinch-hitter
this season. ... The crowd of 46,584 was Atlanta's 22nd sellout of
the season. ... Since the Braves moved into Turner Field at the
start of 1997, they are 21-5 against the Mets in Atlanta.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Mets Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
Oakland 7
Baltimore 4
Oakland 0
Baltimore 0
(2nd game)
Boston 7
Cleveland 4
Chi. White Sox 6
Detroit 2
Toronto 16
NY Yankees 3
Seattle 5
Tampa Bay 2
Kansas City 5
Anaheim 1
Minnesota 15
Texas 7
Florida 3
Montreal 1
Pittsburgh 12
Philadelphia 8
Atlanta 12
NY Mets 4
Milwaukee 9
Chicago Cubs 8
Houston 8
St. Louis 6
San Diego 7
Colorado 2
Los Angeles 1
Arizona 0
San Francisco 7
Cincinnati 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Andruw Jones says the Braves have things going their way.
wav: 195 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Chipper Jones says the Braves can score runs without hitting it over the fence.
wav: 145 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Bobby Valentine says the Mets did not deserve to win Tuesday's game.
wav: 106 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Andruw Jones says the Braves will not rest in Game 3, although they have already won the series with the Mets.
wav: 171 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jay Payton says the Mets need to play with fire.
wav: 114 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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