Braves 3, Mets 1

Braves 3, Mets 1
By TOM SALADINO
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) -- Marcus Giles hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth and Greg Maddux pitched seven scoreless innings Sunday as the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 3-1.
After Jeromy Burnitz hit a game-tying solo shot in the top of the eighth off Roberto Hernandez (4-1), the Braves regained the lead in the bottom half.
Rafael Furcal singled with two outs against David Weathers (1-4) before Giles hit his seventh home run of the season.
John Smoltz pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 20 attempts. Smoltz, who hadn't pitched since last Sunday, extended his major league record for pitching in consecutive team victories to 72. He last was in a losing game on May 29, 2002, a 4-3 loss to Montreal.
The Braves took a 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Andruw Jones in the fifth inning, the first hit off rookie right-hander Jae Seo, who allowed only one other hit before leaving after seven innings.
Jones, who also homered Saturday, hit a 2-1 fastball 395 feet over the left field fence for his 13th home run of the season.
Burnitz's second homer of the series drew boos from the season-high crowd of 41,432, and took a win away from Maddux.
Maddux allowed three hits, didn't walk any and struck out three in seven innings. The four-time NL Cy Young winner threw 84 pitches -- 52 for strikes -- and retired the last 11 hitters he faced. He lowered his ERA from 5.54 to 4.99 after going 0-2 with a 7.41 ERA in his previous three starts.
The Mets' bullpen once again failed to come through. The relievers have 14 of the team's 28 losses -- tied with San Diego for the most in the majors.
Notes: Maddux is 29-16 in his career against the Mets -- the most wins against any club -- and hasn't lost to New York since Sept. 28, 2000. He's 3-0 in his last seven starts against the Mets. ... Atlanta's Gary Sheffield had a 12-game hitting streak snapped, going 0-for-4. He was robbed of a hit in the fourth on a diving catch by Mets' 3B Ty Wigginton, who turned it into a double play with Giles running on the play. ... Braves' 3B Vinny Castilla doubled and went to third in the fifth inning when Mets' RF Roger Cedeno caught a fly ball from Henry Blanco and thought it was the third out. It was only the second out, but Cedeno got off the hook when Maddux popped out for the final out of the inning.