Braves knock off Mets in 10th inning after blown call

The Atlanta Braves scored three runs on a home run by third baseman Chris Johnson in the top of 10th inning to knock off the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon.

After striking out three times in his first four at bats, Johnson’s first hit of the day came at the perfect time as he sent a pitch from Mets reliever Greg Burke into the stand to break the 1-1 tie.

Just before Johnson’s shot, first baseman Freddie Freeman was called safe at first after hitting ball back to the pitchers. Replays showed Freeman was clearly out, which would have been the third out of the inning.

Braves closer Craig Kimbrell worked around a Marlon Byrd single to pick up his 40th save of the season while Luis Avilan (5-0) pitched a shaky ninth (one his, two walks) to earn the victory. Scott Atchison (3-2) took the loss for the mets.

Both starters, Alex Wood for the Braves and Jonathan Niese for the Mets, had excellent games. Wood gave up one earned run, six hits, two walks and struck out four in six innings while Niese gave up one earned run, five hits, three walks and struck nine batters out in seven innings.

The win improved the Braves to a National League best 77-49 while the Mets fell to 58-67.

The Braves will head to St. Louis to start a four game set with the Cardinals Thursday while the Mets while host a three game series with the Detroit Tigers starting Friday.