GOOD & BAD: David Wright hit two homers during the Mets’ 4-3 win over the Braves, but Jon Niese left the game in the fourth win “left shoulder discomfort.” (
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ATLANTA — Now that’s what you call discomfort.
Just when the Mets appeared to have something to rally around, in the form of a potentially solid and deep rotation, Jon Niese departed last night’s game at Turner Field with “left shoulder discomfort,” as announced by the team.
Niese grimaced after delivering a pitch to Tyler Pastornicky in the fourth inning and was escorted from the mound, dampening the Mets’ 4-3 victory over the Braves.
The lefty was headed to New York, where he will be examined today by team doctors at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Niese said a physician at the ballpark performed tests on him last night and “everything was negative,” leaving the pitcher to believe he is dealing with a flare up from earlier tendinitis.
“There was discomfort and I tried to pitch through it,” Niese said. “It was a combination of that whole [Pastornicky] at-bat. I felt pain on every pitch, so it wasn’t worth it.”
Niese’s departure came two days after the Mets unveiled prized pitching prospect Zack Wheeler to join Matt Harvey in the team’s burgeoning rotation. Manager Terry Collins has six starters for five spots and is considering who among Dillon Gee, Jeremy Hefner and Shaun Marcum should be bumped from the rotation, as early as next week, but that step might now be unnecessary.
Collins said he will not make a decision on the rotation until more is known about Niese’s condition. The manager indicated he is worried.
“When [the shoulder] bothers you on a night where it’s warm, I am a little concerned, yeah,” Collins said.
It’s not the first time this season Niese’s shoulder has been an issue. The lefty skipped a start in Miami this month with tendinitis in the shoulder, but returned to face the Marlins on June 9 at Citi Field and indicated he was fine physically. He then faced the Cubs six days later.
“It was a lot worse before,” Niese said. “After I left the game everything settled down in here and the pain went away, so we’ll see how it goes.”
All wasn’t lost. Last night the Mets received two homers from David Wright and another from Andrew Brown, leading their nine-hit attack. The Mets (28-41) won three of five games, handing the Braves their first loss in a home series this season.
Josh Edgin recorded maybe his biggest out of the season by retiring Jason Heyward with runners on first and third and two outs in the eighth. The lefty got Heyward to hit a grounder to first base, on which Lucas Duda hustled to the bag and got the final out.
“I fell behind 3-0, so I had to go fastball,” Edgin said. “I tried to keep it away and throw strikes.”
Brandon Lyon gave the Mets 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief before Edgin entered. Bobby Parnell earned his 11th save in 14 chances with a perfect ninth. Niese struggled over 3 1/3 innings in which he allowed three earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and no walks. The Braves jumped to a 3-1 lead in the third when Chris Johnson and Gerald Laird delivered consecutive RBI singles.
Justin Upton’s RBI single in the first accounted for the Braves’ initial run. Pastornicky singled leading off and reached third on Heyward’s single before Upton delivered.
Josh Satin gave the Mets a 4-3 lead with a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh. Omar Quintanilla opened the inning with a double.
Brown’s pinch-hit homer leading off the fifth made it 3-3. Wright hit solo homers in the first and fourth innings to get the Mets started offensively against Mike Minor (8-3).
“We came in here and played very well against a very good team,” Collins said. “We got big hits when we needed them. It was a great series for us.”