Braves at Mets
With last season's September collapse ingrained in their memory, it was a long off-season for the Atlanta Braves. Yet the beginning of a new season pretty much resembled the end of last year for the Braves, who will hope that a day off will revive their bats Saturday at Citi Field after getting blanked 1-0 by the host New York Mets on Thursday.
The Mets, despite their lack of offense, had two good reasons to feel giddy. Johan Santana made a successful return to the mound in his first start in 19 months since undergoing shoulder surgery, and the retooled bullpen combined for four scoreless innings from four different relievers. The one blip on the screen was a calf injury suffered by new center fielder Andres Torres, who is headed back to Florida for rehab.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Atlanta), SNY (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Jair Jurrjens (2011: 13-6, 2.95 ERA) vs. Mets RH R.A. Dickey (2011: 8-13, 3.28 ERA)
Jurrgens steamed into the All-Star break last year with a 12-3 record. He would win only once more and sat out September with a knee injury that eventually required surgery. He had a pair of strong outings to close spring training, and is 8-4 with a 2.94 ERA 13 career starts versus the Mets.
Dickey won only twice in the first two months last year but turned it on down the stretch, allowing more than three runs only once in his last 12 starts. The veteran knuckleballer lost twice to the Braves in his last 10 outings despite permitting only three runs on eight hits in 14 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, who is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, said he felt "great" after taking live batting practice Friday.
2. Thursday's shutout marked the 11th time in 163 games that the Braves have been blanked – and four have been at the hands of the Mets.
3. Mets third baseman David Wright has 27 home runs in 130 games against Atlanta, while Braves second baseman Dan Uggla has struck out 113 times in 109 games against New York pitching.