Paul Maholm helps Atlanta Braves blank New York Mets 3-0 - MLB Update
Starter Paul Maholm strikes-out six as he leads the Atlanta Braves to a 3-0 victory against the New York Mets in the first match of the three game series at Citi Field, New York on September 7, 2012.
Mets failed to score even a single run throughout the game. Thanks to the quality pitches thrown by the Braves’ pitchers, not even a single occasion came when the Mets looked in a position to dominate the opposition. New York struck five hits but they did
not convert them into runs on the score-board.
As far as the Braves’ offence was concerned, seven hits were hammered in the match. Right fielder Jason Heyward and the second baseman Dan Uggla struck a home-run. In a low scoring game without home-runs the Braves will not have found it easy to win.
By-and-large Atlanta did not perform as well as they are capable of offensively. If it was not for the hopelessly poor show by the Mets’ offence, the ease with which they protected their lead will not be possible.
Owing to the immaculate innings completed by their pitchers, they dominated the game despite not being able to put an enormous number of runs on the score-board.
Braves’ starter Maholm won his 12th game in the season as he remained scoreless on Friday. The relievers that followed him kept the pressure on the batters and did not allow them to score any runs.
Craig Kimbrel had his 35th save in the season for Atlanta on Friday.
Mets’ manager Terry Collins traces the failure in the inability of the batters to connect hits late in the innings. Above all, Collins believes the lack of big hits coming off from his hitters is responsible for the defeat.
"The thing we did so well when we had guys on base was to get two-out hits. But lately, we're not hitting. We're not hitting at all. And we haven't been able to get big hits here at home," said Terry Collins.
Such a dismal show from the offence cannot last if the Mets aim to improve their winning percentage drastically from now onward. In order to finish the season on a high, they will be looking to get their batters to perform at their full potential in the
upcoming games.
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