ATLANTA — All hands on deck yesterday kept a sinking ship from taking on more water.
After seven straight Mets losses, manager Terry Collins had little choice but to play the series finale against the Braves as if it was the decisive game of the World Series. That meant using starting pitchers Chris Capuano and R.A. Dickey from the bullpen. It meant finding any possible way to win.
But even with their 3-2 victory at Turner Field, the Mets won’t have tickertape awaiting them when they arrive at Citi Field tomorrow. But at least they could exhale a little as they prepare for six games at home against the Astros and Diamondbacks.
“It’s our biggest win so far,” Collins said, after watching Dillon Gee, Capuano, Dickey, Jason Isringhausen and Francisco Rodriguez combine to muzzle the Braves. “If we put a string together now, we’ll make some noise.”
That’s a big “if” for the Mets (5-11), who scored only five runs combined in the three-game series and still have a huge question mark at the top of their rotation with Mike Pelfrey’s recent freefall. But then, Houston is last in the NL Central and Arizona began yesterday’s play tied for last in the NL West. Of course, the struggling Mets can’t be confident they would win a series against the Newark Bears.
The Braves played Mets baseball in the eighth inning yesterday, helping Collins’ crew to escape with the victory. Brian McCann, the tying run, was picked off first base by Isringhausen, who had allowed a homer to Jason Heyward leading off the inning. Officially, the McCann play was ruled caught stealing.
“I know [McCann] will steal bases when he thinks he’s got you timed,” Isringhausen said. “He was just running on timing. I varied my hold times and I got lucky today with it.”
Gee, who started in Chris Young’s place — the veteran righty was placed on the disabled list Saturday with biceps tendinitis — picked up where he ended last season. The rookie allowed one earned run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Other than Young’s one-hit gem against the Nationals a week earlier, Gee’s performance was maybe the best by a Mets starter this season.
Capuano entered with the tying runs on base in the sixth and retired pinch-hitter Chipper Jones to keep the Mets’ lead at 3-1.
The manager said Capuano’s “great” numbers against Jones — the lefty had retired Jones six times in seven career at-bats — made Capuano the natural choice in that situation. Freddie Freeman was the scheduled hitter when Capuano entered, but Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez countered with the switch-hitting Jones.
Dickey then allowed a hit in the seventh, but got the ball to Isringhausen. In the ninth, Rodriguez struck out Brooks Conrad to end the game with the tying run at third base.
“You don’t want to be hyper-dramatic about it, but at the same time there is a sense of urgency that we need to start turning it around and I was glad to be able to help with that,” Dickey said. “If you’re going to get dressed up you might as well play — it’s fun.”
Josh Thole and Ike Davis each had RBI singles in the first inning against Tommy Hanson (1-3). Thole also stroked an RBI single in the fifth.
“It was a must-win for us,” Thole said. “We had to get ourselves off the hook. It was time.”