Atlanta Braves Morning Chop for THR 9/11
September 21, 2001: Mets pull within 4½ on emotional night
Choked up by a pregame tribute to the victims of the World Trade Center collapse, Piazza hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning that lifted the Mets over the Atlanta Braves 3-2 Friday night and further tightened the NL East race.
“I’m just so happy I gave the people something to cheer,” Piazza said. “There was a lot of emotion. It was just a surreal sort of energy out there. I’m just so proud to be a part of it tonight.”
“These people are great,” he said. “New York has been so strong through all this. I feel so sad. I met two kids today who lost their fathers.”
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Liza Minnelli and Diana Ross took part in the ceremonies as baseball returned to the city for the first time since last week’s terrorist attacks. A crowd of 41,235 included almost 10,000 walkup fans. Piazza had already doubled twice when he hit his 34th home run, a monstrous drive over the center-field fence off native New Yorker Steve Karsay (3-4).
“I’m glad to give people a diversion from the sorrow, to give them a thrill,” Piazza said.
The surging Mets, playing at Shea Stadium for the first time since Sept. 2, have won four in a row and 10 of 11. The defending NL champions pulled within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Braves.
Braves best Strephen Strasburg to avoid being swept by Nats
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WASHINGTON —
Fredi Gonzalezcannot explain why the Braves have done so well against
Stephen Strasburg. The Atlanta manager is just glad his team beat the Washington ace once again.
Aaron Harang outdueled Strasburg, Justin Upton drove in three runs and the Braves avoided a series sweep with a 6-2 win over the Nationals on Wednesday.
The Braves snapped a three-game losing streak as Harang (11-10) held the NL East leaders to one unearned run over seven innings. Upton’s RBI single in the sixth broke a 1-all tie, and he added a two-run double off reliever Ryan Mattheus during a three-run seventh. B.J. Upton homered for Atlanta.
“This is a big win,” Gonzalez said. “This is a win that you look forward to maybe (tacking) on three or four more in a row and get us back on top of the wild-card mix.”
Strasburg (11-11) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. Bryce Harper homered for Washington, which had won three straight.
Washington won the opening two games of the series. Atlanta trails by eight games in the division.
“If we came in here and got swept it’s (going to) leave a sour note in everybody’s mouth,” Harang said. “We can’t focus on the division as much as the wild card right now.”
Here’s the numbers: