Braves 7, Metropolitians 3

-Holy foshizzle, the Braves can hit Oliver Perez. Well, for three innings before the offense went in shutdown. I don't buy much into a player's domination over one team, but Ollie was testing that theory with every solid effort he had against the Braves. However, six runs in the first three innings changed that.

-Matt Diaz, hitting second because Cox loves to bury Kelly Johnson, had a solo shot in the first, but was quiet from there. Not so quiet was Jeff Francoeur. He became the latest Brave to challenge Albert Hall's immortality by nearly reaching the cycle. His three-run bomb in the third was the biggest blow to Ollie's day and best birthday gift of the day to yours truly. Francoeur finished with four hits (two doubles, a homer, and a measly single) to with his three ribbies and two walks.

-Chipper Jones, famed Mets killer, got the triple Francoeur needed (bwah) and also challenged Hall, finishing a homer short of the cycle with three hits.

-"My Buddy" Carlyle (don't fucking steal that, Berman) was good for a few innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth and fifth. A runners-on-the-corners and no out situation was helped by a double play that scored the first Mets run. The Mets grounded into three killer twin killings (too much?). In the fifth, My Buddy really sucked, but no Met could get some real contact off of him. Despite just 79 pitches, Carlyle's day was very Chuckish in that it lasted just five innings.

-The bullpen was pretty awesome. Ron Mahay, Octavio Dotel, Rafael Soriano, and Peter Effin Moylan each tossed hitless frames. Mahay walked a batter, but all faced the minimum.

-Huge win and Mets fans are certifiably insane. They are the ones up by 3.5 games, yet they are the ones panicking and talking about how this series and possibly season is lost. I mean, jeez, you still have El Dukie and John Maine going, though they are facing John Smoltz and Tim Hudson.

-Unlike today's shitfest scheduling that had this game on no widely available and easy to access channel (see TBS or WPIX), tomorrow's game will be covered by ESPN and Thursday's EARLY day game (12:10) gets TBS treatment. The Phils destroyed the Marlins to keep pace. If you're a Wild Card watcher, Jake Peavy shutdown the Padres (hardly much of an effort for most human beings (*ahem*, Boomer, *ahem)) and they stay 1.5 games up on the Braves in the Wild Card.