NEW YORK — Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies came within a triple of hitting for the cycle Thursday night at Citi Field, where he homered in the fourth inning, hit an RBI single in the sixth, then drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the eighth as the visitors beat the slumping New York Mets 4-3 to wrap up a three-game series between National League East Division rivals.
Right-hander Bryce Elder (5-9) allowed three runs (two earned) while pitching seven innings for the Braves, who took of two of three in this visit to New York and finished 7-3 against the Mets in the season series.
Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 17th save of the season for Atlanta, which has won six of its past eight games and has back-to-back series wins for the first time since mid-June — when the Braves won two of three against the Colorado Rockies before sweeping three with the Mets.
Albies, who struck out swinging his first time up to bat in the second inning, went deep against Mets right-hander Kodai Senga in the third and hit an RBI single off Tyler Rogers in the sixth. Michael Harris II, who joined Albies in going 3-for-4, tied the game with an RBI double off Ryan Helsley (3-3) in the eighth before scoring on Albies’ hit to deep right.
Albies has 81 career RBIs against the Mets, his most against any opponent in the majors.