No no-no for Niese, but 3-0 Mets sweep Braves

Jonathon Niese flirted with history for six innings, but Atlanta's Freddie Freeman thwarted the lefthander's chance to be the first Met to throw a no-hitter.

Thanks to ample offense early, the Mets were able to stave off a late comeback by the Braves en route to their third straight win, a 7-5 victory yesterday afternoon at Citi Field. Freeman's seventh-inning single to right on Niese's 98th pitch of the game broke up his quest for the history books, just a day after the team announced his five-year contract extension.

The Mets have now gone 7,971 days -- and 50 years -- without a no-hitter.

But who's counting?

Niese (1-0) allowed three runs on two hits in six-plus innings. He walked Dan Uggla to start the seventh, then Freeman lined the first pitch of his at-bat -- a 90 mph fastball -- into rightfield for a clean single. Rightfielder Lucas Duda lost Matt Diaz's fly ball in the sun, allowing Uggla to score and Freeman to move to third. Jason Heyward then drove in Freeman and Diaz with a double to right-centerfield. Manager Terry Collins pulled Niese after 102 pitches (66 strikes) in favor of Manny Acosta. Heyward stole third base during Jack Wilson's at-bat, and Wilson's sacrifice fly scored Heyward.

Brian McCann homered off Acosta in the eighth to make it 7-5, but Frank Francisco tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his third straight save. Francisco is the first Met to earn saves in the first three games of the season.

Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy powered the Mets' offense with two RBIs each.

Kimberley A. Martin is a

Newsday staff writer.