Braves 8, Mets 5

Atlanta RF Jeff Francoeur had struggled through most of April (5 for is last 45), but busted out in big way this afternoon, rocking the Mets to the tune of 4 hits (1 HR, three singles),5 RBI’s and a pair of runs scored. Mets starter Steve Trachsel was plagued by control problems and suffered through an outing that can best be described as Victor Zambrano-esque (5 BB’s, 8 hits, 6 earned runs). New York reliever Jorge Julio, reverting to earlier form, struck out 5 but served up a gopher ball to Francoeur.

Amongst the few highlights for the Mets, a long HR to left center off Kyle Davies (the 7th he’s allowed in ’06) by the recently returned Carlos Beltran, and perhaps most incredibly, 3 walks credited to Jose Reyes. Though Reyes’ on base percentage of .308 is still unacceptably low, he’s currently on pace to walk twice as often this season as he did in ’05.

Francoeur, as quoted postgame by the AP :

”I’ve really been down on myself and it was starting to take a toll on me,” he said. ”So last night, I decided to watch a couple of movies. I watched the end of ‘Gladiator’ and the end of ‘Rudy.”’

”I’m a little superstitious, and sometimes you need something to get you going,” Francoeur said. ”If ‘Rudy’ doesn’t do it, nothing will.”
I’d recommend the following the next time Jeff is looking for a little inspiration (they’ve always worked for me) :

“Arthur 2: On The Rocks”

(fuck that Knute Rockne bullshit, Griffin Dunne has a talking penis)
“Me And Him”

“Shanghai Surprise”

It’s a long season. Even if Francoeur is a-ok from here on in, I think Larry, Andruw and Smoltzy should consider purchasing the above triology on DVD and exercising some veteran leadership – the entire Braves 25 man roster needs to stay up all night before every game watching these films until they have every line of dialogue memorized. If this helps them win a 15th consecutive NL East title, I’ll happily accept a partial playoff share.

Binghamton’s William Collazo took a no-hitter into the 8th inning today against Erie, a game the Mets won, 4-2. Henry Owens earned his 6th save.