ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Braves at Mets – 06/26/2002

No Albie, hence no problem. Tom Glavine had a fairly strong start, giving up only two runs on two solo homers, but has been victimized by a case of the same syndrome that afflicted Damian Moss early in the season and lately has struck Kevin Millwood, where he pitched just well enough to take it to the bullpen with a tie. But Gary Sheffield hit a grand-slam homer off of new Braves whipping boy Scott Strickland (who has now given up three game-winning homers to the Braves this season, including the one to Lockhart on Monday) and the bullpen was solid (except for a monster solo homer allowed Mo Vaughn by Kevin Gryboski) and the Braves have beaten the Mets twice in three games with one game to go in the series.

Chipper was back in the lineup, but Andruw left the game with a sprained left shoulder in the sixth inning. This shoulder may have been bothering him for awhile, but the immediate cause was one of the early homers by the Mets, where he tried to leap and pull it back over the fence. I’ve always wondered why more players don’t get hurt doing that. Darren Bragg will play center if Andruw can’t play tonight, but Andruw always plays. Frankly, I think he could use the rest.

The Braves have pulled out to a seven-game lead on Montreal, seven and a half on Florida, eight and a half on the Mets. The Braves are a half game behind the Dodgers for the best record in the league.