MLB

Young, Murphy a powerful 1-2 punch in Mets win

ATLANTA — If the Mets can get this kind of production from the top, they might not be destined for the bottom.

Eric Young Jr. and Daniel Murphy were a lethal 1-2 combo at the top of the order Thursday night, reaching base seven times between them to inject life into a previously dormant Mets lineup.

Young — with three stolen bases — brought the speed element and Murphy cleaned up with three RBIs in the Mets’ 6-4 victory over the Braves at Turner Field.

In a sloppy game that included Curtis Granderson losing a ball in the sky, leading to a Braves outburst, the Mets persevered. In the end, Carlos Torres, Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Valverde combined for four scoreless innings of relief to secure the rubber game of the series.

Murphy went 3-for-4 with a walk and stolen base. Young was 3-for-5 and made his speed count even when he wasn’t stealing bases — he legged out a fielder’s choice in the eighth and scored the Mets’ final run on Murphy’s RBI double. Each of Murphy’s three RBIs brought home Young.

“I wasn’t exactly coming into this game lighting it up,” Murphy said. “So if [Young] wants to go ahead and get in scoring position with nobody out, I’m going to let you go. Tonight was a situation, even with a strike I felt I could take another strike to let him run.”

Young said he has made adjustments in recent days that have paid off. It came after a meeting last weekend in which manager Terry Collins told Young he should revert to the stance he used last season.

“We just had a meeting and [Collins] just told me to be comfortable,” Young said. “He said obviously we’re going to have some bumps and bruises, but the main thing is being comfortable up there. Not really trying to be too mechanical up there, just relaxing and let my natural ability show”

Juan Lagares delivered the go-ahead run in the seventh with an RBI single against Gus Schlosser that gave the Mets a 5-4 lead.

Jenrry Mejia survived a rough outing in which he allowed four earned runs on six hits and four walks over five innings.

It followed a shaky start by Zack Wheeler a night earlier, in which the right-hander allowed four runs over five innings.

Murphy’s RBI single in the fifth brought home Young and tied the game 4-4, but the Mets squandered a big opportunity to take the lead. Anthony Varvaro entered a bases-loaded jam and struck out Lagares before Travis d’Arnaud was retired to end the inning. Young’s third hit of the game, a leadoff triple, started the rally.

“We talked about it all spring and all winter, what Eric Young brings to the table, when he gets on base he scores runs,” Collins said. “He showed it again tonight. He scored [four] runs and stole three bases and got on base and makes things happen. When you come up in the middle of that order and you’ve got somebody standing on second base, singles drive in runs and you saw it tonight.”

Justin Upton’s second homer of the night, a two-run rocket into the left-field seats in the third inning gave the Braves a 4-3 lead. The inning was extended after B.J. Upton hit a routine fly to right that Granderson lost in the sky for a triple. Freddie Freeman’s ensuing single pulled the Braves within 3-2.

David Wright’s RBI single in the third gave the Mets a 2-1 lead after Young’s leadoff single and steal of second base. Murphy followed with a walk and scored on Ike Davis’ RBI ground out.

Justin Upton’s homer leading off the second gave the Braves their first run.

Young’s speed produced an immediate run in the first. After delivering a single against David Hale to start the game, Young stole second and raced to third on Ryan Doumit’s wild throw. Murphy’s RBI ground out brought in the run.

“We knew we were going to hit better than we’ve been hitting,” Collins said. “Dan, he’s certainly one of those guys when he gets red-hot, he can hit anybody. When we get David and Grandy going, the middle of the lineup is going to have a whole different look.”