Braves Hand Mets Their Sixth Straight Loss

April 27, 2017

Rick Nyman,

NEW YORK (AP) – Yoenis Cespedes limped off with a pulled hamstring, Matt Harvey was chased in the fifth inning as he made an emergency start in place of ailing Noah Syndergaard, and the New York Mets’ losing streak reached six with a 7-5 defeat to the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.

Kurt Suzuki hit a three-run homer that finished Harvey (2-1), who allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings and tied a career high with five walks.

Syndergaard was scratched because of right biceps discomfort. While the right-hander hopes to pitch Sunday at Washington, Cespedes looks likely to be sidelined for an extended period.

Cespedes left last Thursday’s loss to Philadelphia with a left hamstring problem and returned to the lineup Wednesday. The slugger hit a one-hop double to right-center off R.A. Dickey (2-2) in the fourth and was jogging into second base when he pulled up. When he reached second, he bent over, hands on both knees.

Former Calhoun high school grad Josh Smoker pitched 2.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts for the Mets.