Mets 8, Braves 2
ATLANTA -- Left-hander Steven Matz scattered nine hits over seven innings and the New York Mets won their seventh straight game at Turner Field with an 8-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.
Matz (2-1) struck out eight, one shy of his career high, and did not walk a batter. Matz threw 98 pitches, 74 for strikes, and won his second straight game.
New York has won two straight and five of its last six. Atlanta lost for the fourth straight time.
The Mets had 15 hits, including back-to-back homers from Neil Walker, his seventh, and Asdrubal Cabrera, his first, in the ninth inning. That started a three-run rally that put the game out of reach.
New York now has 23 homers over its last eight games. Walker's seven homers match his career best for homers in a month.
The losing pitcher was Jhoulys Chacin (0-1), who was making his Turner Field debut. Chacin pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits and two walks, with five strikeouts.
The Mets added a run in the seventh to stretch their lead to 5-1. Cabrera fisted a single to left that enabled Wright to score. Wright opened the inning with a double.
The Mets jumped on the Braves for two runs in the first inning.
Curtis Granderson led off with a single and took third on Michael Conforto's base hit. Granderson scored on Lucas Duda's sacrifice fly to deep center and Conforto scored when Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman committed a two-base fielding error.
The Braves scored a run in the third when Nick Markakis was hit by a pitch to open the inning and came home on an RBI double by Freeman, who had been mired in a 3-for-19 slump.
New York scored two runs in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead on a two-out, opposite-field double by David Wright.
NOTES: New York optioned RHP Rafael Montero to Triple-A Las Vegas to make room for deGrom. ... New York OF Yoenis Cespedes was not in the starting lineup. He aggravated his bruised right leg on Friday night while running the bases. ... Atlanta optioned RHP Casey Kelly to Triple-A Gwinnett and recalled LHP Matt Marksberry from Double-A Mississippi. ... The Braves are expected to start rookie Aaron Blair in the series finale on Sunday against Mets RHP Jacob deGrom (1-0, 1.50). Blair will make his major league debut. He was 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Gwinnett and pitched seven no-hit innings in his last start. DeGrom hasn't pitched since the home opener on April 8 to be with his wife and son, who has been hospitalized for two weeks with medical complications. DeGrom threw a 71-pitch simulated game on Tuesday.