Jonathan Niese leaves early, causing concern for Mets fans

A scary moment for Mets fans last night that could temporarily resolve their rotation issue, but not the way they were hoping for.

Jonathan Niese departed after 3 1/3rd innings after shoulder discomfort caused him to exit early with the Braves leading 3-2.  The bullpen responded with 5 2/3rd innings of shutout ball as the Mets came back with a run in the 5th and a run in the 7th as the Mets take the series with the 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

LaTroy Hawkins earned the credit for the win as he was the pitcher on record when Josh Satin doubled in Omar Quintanilla in the 7th inning.

David Wright homered twice, once in the 1st inning and again in the 4th inning, to help the Mets cause.

The three-to-two series win marked the first time this year that the Atlanta Braves have lost a series at Turner Field, and also marked the first time the Mets have won a series against the Braves down in Georgia since 2011.

Niese is heading back for New York, where he will get examined today to see what exactly is ailing him.  He, and the rest of the Mets, are hoping that it's tendinitis, and that he will only be gone a limited time.

His departure will settle what was going to be a rotation issue, with the Mets having to demote a pitcher to the bullpen with the call-up of Zack Wheeler.

LOOK AHEAD
It's been a tough season for Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels.  A 2-10 record isn't what he envisioned in the 8th year of his Major League career.  But he does, as one of those wins came against the Mets back on April 28th.

But it was a game where the Mets should have made Hamels pay.

Hamels yielded 6 free passes to the Mets, none of which came back to home plate in the Mets 5-1 loss to the Phillies.  Instead, the Mets were only able to scatter two hits on Hamels, both coming in the 1st inning.

Jeremy Hefner has allowed only one earned run in each of his last three starts, the latest coming in an effort where Kirk Nieuwenhuis walked off with a three-run shot in the bottom 9th to beat the Chicago Cubs.  Three runs were scored against Hefner in that effort, but only one was earned as two runs were scored in the 5th inning on a David Wright error.

In those three starts, he has dealt 14 strikeouts and 3 walks in 18 innings of work.  He has allowed 18 hits in that span.

First pitch from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia is scheduled for 7:05PM.

Mets Coverage on 1230 FOX Sports Radio kicks off at 6:25PM.