Associated Press
NEW YORK ó Brian McCann hit a three-run homer and the Atlanta Braves took advantage of another gaffe by Luis Castillo to put together their own eight-run inning in a 15-2 victory over the sluggish New York Mets on Wednesday night.
McCann’s long drive to right-center off Bobby Parnell was the highlight of the big second inning, which included a season-high seven hits. Five runs scored after Castillo failed to cover second on Garret Anderson’s two-out grounder to shortstop Anderson Hernandez with runners on the corners.
Parnell (East Rowan) was on the verge of limiting the damage when McCann homered on a 3-2 pitch. Parnell allowed one more run in the third and the Mets sent up a pinch-hitter for him in the bottom of the inning.
Parnell (3-5) allowed nine runs and nine hits over three innings in his third major league start. Castillo, a three-time Gold Glove winner from 2003-05 with Florida, was replaced before Atlanta batted in the fourth.
The Braves lost the series opener Tuesday night when New York had a season-high eight runs and a franchise-record 10 hits in the fourth inning of a 9-4 win.
Matt Diaz homered and drove in four runs for Atlanta, which had a season-high 18 hits in its highest scoring game of the year. Omar Infante had three hits and three RBIs.
Jair Jurrjens (10-8) allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings to earn his first win since July 22 against San Francisco. The right-hander also improved to 4-1 with a 2.87 ERA in six career starts against the Mets.
Castillo collected two more hits for New York and is batting .391 (45 for 115) since July 5, but is likely headed for more scrutiny after his latest mental lapse. The normally sure-handed second baseman cost the Mets a win when he dropped a ninth-inning popup in a 9-8 loss at the Yankees on June 12, allowing two runs to score.
This time he barely budged on Anderson’s bouncer to Hernandez, who looked to second before making a late throw to first. The Citi Field crowd booed lustily as Diaz scampered home on Anderson’s infield hit to give Atlanta a 4-0 lead.
Parnell then walked Chipper Jones and uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch before McCann connected on a full-count offering for his 14th homer. Adam LaRoche, the 11th batter of the inning, followed with a popup to Castillo for the final out, leading to sarcastic cheers.
Atlanta and New York became the first teams to exchange innings of eight or more runs on consecutive days of the same series since the Indians and Yankees did it on July 4-5, 2006. LaRoche and Diaz connected against Tim Redding in Atlanta’s three-run sixth and Reid Gorecki, a Queens native, picked up his first major league hit.