Fussball » night, so promising two innings before,

ATLANTA -- Seven innings of Bartolo Colons dominance only made Jose Valverdes ninth-inning escape look even scarier. Colon combined with two relievers on an eight-hitter, Ruben Tejada drove in two runs with two hits and the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 4-0 on Tuesday night. Valverde loaded the basses in the ninth before Jason Heyward flied to the warning track in centre field to end it. Colon, 40, gave up six hits and no walks, struck out five and didnt allow more than one baserunner in any inning until the seventh as he outpitched Atlantas Aaron Harang (1-1). Travis dArnaud said catching Colon (1-1) is "a lot of fun." "He commands all his pitches," dArnaud said. "What else could you ask for from a pitcher?" Tejada scored on a wild pitch by Harang in the third and had run-scoring singles in the seventh and eighth innings. The Braves honoured the 40th anniversary of Hank Aarons 715th homer in a pregame ceremony attended by baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Al Downing, the former Dodgers left-hander who gave up the homer, attended the ceremony and threw out the first pitch. There was little left to get excited about for the home crowd until the ninth. Justin Upton and Dan Uggla had back-to-back singles off Valverde. Evan Gattis, who returned after missing two games -- and losing seven pounds -- because of a stomach virus, hit a fielders choice grounder that forced Upton at third. Valverde then fielded Andrelton Simmons grounder, turned and threw wide of second base for an error, leaving the bases loaded. Pinch-hitter Gerald Laird popped out to second base and Lagares caught Heywards shot to end the game. "I knew I just missed it," Heyward said. "Id like to be in that spot every time. Id like to come through." Heyward, who was 0-for-5, is hitting .107. Mets manager Terry Collins said the Braves had aggressive swings in the ninth because Valverde was throwing strikes. "The ninth inning is a tough inning," Collins said. "Youve got a club like the Braves who swing the bats and this guy attacks the strike zone. Theyre gonna get some hits. When he starts missing is when he gets in trouble. When he throws strikes he gets outs because youve got to swing." Valverde moved into the closers role as the replacement for Bobby Parnell, who had season-ending Tommy John surgery on Tuesday. Harang was hurt by control problems in an otherwise strong outing. He allowed only two hits with nine strikeouts in six innings, but he gave up four walks, including two in the third. Tejada led off with a walk and eventually scored on Harangs wild pitch to David Wright. "I tried to put him away, a 2-2 count, I threw a slider in the dirt," Harang said. "It took an awkward bounce, got away from Evan. "Other than that I felt good. I kept them off-balance. We just werent able to work anything up on Colon tonight." The Mets added two runs off Braves rookie Gus Schlosser in the seventh. Tejada and Young had run-scoring singles. Braves left-hander Luis Avilan left the game in the seventh with a left hamstring cramp after he dodged Daniel Murphys broken-bat on a single. Avilan was limping and was unable to make a warm-up throw but said after the game he did not expect to miss any time. Collins asked for a review when Juan Lagares was called out at first base on a grounder to reliever Ian Thomas in the eighth. Following a 3-minute review, Lagares was ruled safe. NOTES: Braves RHP Cory Gearrin confirmed he will have season-ending Tommy John surgery. The Braves previously lost starting pitchers Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy to season-ending elbow injuries this spring. ... RHP Ervin Santana will make his first start for the Braves on Wednesday after signing with the team on March 12. RHP Zack Wheeler will start for the Mets. ... The Mets said Parnells right elbow ligament-replacement surgery, performed by Dr. David Altchek, was successful. The team announced plans for the surgery on Sunday. Adidas NMD Pharrell Williams Human Race Yellow . Scheffler told The Associated Press on Wednesday he made the choice because he had three concussions over the past four years. Cheap Mens Adidas NMD Shoes . - Free agent defensive end Will Smith has signed with the New England Patriots. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/adidas-nmd-r1-core-black-carbon-white-b79758-men-s.html .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Adidas NMD Clearance Sale . After losing Brett Cecil to groin tightness on Friday, the Blue Jays watched as R. Pharrell Williams Hu NMD Sale . made a diving catch in left field for the final out in a 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins in a regular-season finale Sunday. Zimmermann (14-5) allowed only two baserunners, finishing with 10 strikeouts and one walk in the fifth no-hitter in the majors this year.TORONTO – Heres what we know after watching R.A. Dickey for a season and a half in a Blue Jays uniform: we dont know. Who knows what to expect from a pitch, the knuckleball, that in one moment confounds a hitter and in the next is traveling, with plenty of spin, more than 400 feet in the opposite direction? Who knows how to manage a knuckleball pitcher? When is the right time to remove him from the game? These guys dont tire as quickly because they dont strain their arms and you cant predict when the pitch is going to flatten out just that once, which could be the difference in the game. All of the above came in to play in Friday nights 5-4 loss to the White Sox, a game in which Dickey no-hit Chicago for four innings but left without recording an out in the seventh. By then hed allowed five hits, four of which landed on the other side of the outfield fence. Actually, three of them did. One of them hit the foul pole. “One less home run, we win that game,” said Dickey. “Its just a really bizarre outing to strike out nine guys, get all those swings and misses on what I felt like was a really good knuckleball tonight.” Then, some home run talk. “Three of the four home runs were possibly mistakes, two I know,” said Dickey. “Normally, theyre a foul ball here or a miss hit here, but they just didnt miss them tonight.” Jose Abreu and Dayan Viciedo hit solo home runs in the fifth to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead. Those were Chicagos first two hits of the evening. The Blue Jays bounced back with back-to-back solo home runs in the sixth, one from Edwin Encarnacion and the other off the bat of Dioner Navarro.dddddddddddd. Dickey, sporting an 11.81 ERA in the seventh inning this season, couldnt give his team the shutdown frame it needed. Abreu clubbed his second home run of the night to lead off and, after Adam Dunn walked, Alexei Ramirez clanked a two-run shot off the left field foul pole. The knuckleballers night, so promising two innings before, was over. In six-plus innings, Dickey allowed five earned runs on five hits (four home runs) and one walk. He struck out nine. He was so good and then he wasnt. Theres no discernible pattern outside of his bloated fifth (9.39) and seventh inning ERAs and who knows what to make of those? Dickeys ERA in the sixth is 2.38. “I thought his knuckleball was as good as its been,” said manager John Gibbons. Then, some home run talk. “Its a pitch that can come and go,” said Gibbons. “I mean, one inning it can disappear, one hitter it can disappear and all of a sudden it clicks in. Its tough.” Then, he offered an admission: its hard to determine what to do with Dickey as a game wears on. “Its a totally different way to manage a game,” said Gibbons. “But hes here to win games for us and he needs to stay out there.” Dickeys loss on Friday night dropped his season record to 6-7. His ERA climbed from 4.04 to 4.24. In 51 appearances with the Blue Jays in a season and a half, Dickeys allowed 51 home runs. His win-loss record: 20-20. So there is some symmetry amid the unpredictability. ' ' '