Mets Defeat Braves

Tim Hudson had a much better outing on Friday for the Atlanta Braves. That, along with two Braves' home runs, wasn't enough to beat the New York Mets though, as they beat the Braves 5-2.
The Braves offense had six hits in scoring their two runs. The runs came on homer's by Juan Francisco and Freddie Freeman. Francisco hit his third home run of the spring in the third inning, while Freeman hit his fourth of the spring in the fourth inning. After Freeman's homer, B.J. Upton, who had two hits, and Dan Uggla both singled but the rally was halted when Mets' pitcher Jeremy Hefner struck out the next three Braves' batters. Catcher Gerald Laird added the other hit for the Braves.
Hudson pitched a spring-high six innings for the Braves and gave up two runs on five hits. The runs came on one swing of the bat by the Mets' Lucas Duda for a two-run home run in the second inning. Eric O'Flaherty pitched a perfect seventh inning for the Braves, Cristhian Martinez and Cory Gearrin both struggled. Martinez suffered the loss after giving up an unearned run on two hits in the eighth inning. He is now 0-1 on the spring. Gearrin had his first rough outing of the spring, giving up two runs on two hits in the ninth.
After the game it was announced that four more players have been cut from the spring roster. Outfielder Todd Cunningham, shortstop Elmer Reyes and catcher Matt Kennelly were all three assigned to minor league camp. Ernesto Mejia, who was fighting for a bench job, was sent to Triple-A Gwinnett.
The Braves are now 11-11 on the spring. They will take on the New York Yankees tomorrow at 5:05 p.m. Paul Maholm will make the start, it will be his third start against the Yankees this spring.