Atlanta Braves’ Dan Uggla scores at home plate on a sacrifice fly by David Ross as New York Mets catcher Kelly Shoppach waits for the throw in the seventh inning of a baseball game on Friday, Sept. 7, 2012, at Citi Field in New York.NEW YORK – Paul Maholm and the Atlanta Braves are making their best pitch for the playoffs.
Maholm and the Braves bullpen combined to give Atlanta three straight shutouts for the first time in exactly a decade, and the National League wild-card leaders beat the New York Mets 3-0 on Friday night.
Coming off two 1-0 wins over Colorado, the Braves’ staff stretched its scoreless streak to 28 innings. Atlanta last pitched three straight shutouts on Sept. 4-7, 2002.
“You try to throw up as many zeros as possible,” Maholm said.
Jason Heyward hit his 25th homer in the fourth inning, and Dan Uggla connected with two outs in the ninth.