NEW YORK -- It took all afternoon before Curtis Granderson finally generated some goodwill at Citi Field. Jonathan Toews Blackhawks Jersey . The slumping Mets newcomer hit a sacrifice fly in the 14th inning and New York outlasted the Atlanta Braves 4-3 on Sunday to prevent a three-game sweep. "It felt really good," Granderson said. "Any way to help the team win a big game." David Wright had four hits and New York took advantage of three early errors by Atlanta, which had won seven of eight. Granderson went 0 for 6 with an error and was booed all afternoon. But he turned those jeers to cheers at the end of a long day. "Cant help but not hear them. I havent given them anything to cheer about," he said. Kirk Nieuwenhuis drew a leadoff walk from Gus Schlosser (0-1) and advanced on Ruben Tejadas sacrifice bunt. Eric Young Jr. was intentionally walked to bring up Granderson, hitless in his last 16 at-bats and stuck in a 4-for-44 slide thats dropped his average to .127. "Id rather have chose to pitch to myself as well," Granderson said, well aware of his early struggles. "Ive seen it before on the outside looking in, but Ive never had to deal with it myself to start a season." The runners moved up on a wild pitch and Granderson lifted the next delivery into medium left field. Nieuwenhuis slid home ahead of Justin Uptons throw, and the Mets mobbed Granderson near first base. "Terrible pitch. Elevated. Thats what hes trying to do right there and I let him do it," Schlosser said. New York manager Terry Collins moved Granderson from cleanup to the No. 2 spot in the lineup, hoping to get him started. Granderson, who even tried an unsuccessful drag bunt Sunday, signed a $60 million, four-year contract in December after an injury-plagued season across town with the Yankees. "Im really happy for him," Collins said. "Something he can build on, move forward, and get it going." Jose Valverde (1-0) worked a scoreless inning, hours after he was demoted from his closer role in favour of Kyle Farnsworth. As late-afternoon shadows crept toward the mound, neither team could muster much offence in extra innings. Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out five in three hitless innings for the Mets. Called up from the minors last week, Matsuzaka was pitching on consecutive days for the first time in the majors. He made his second career relief appearance in his season debut Saturday night. "I told him that I could go. When it went into extra innings, I knew Id have to pitch some," Matsuzaka said through a translator. "This is my role for the time being, so Ill do my best." Scott Rice kept it tied in the seventh by getting New York nemesis Freddie Freeman to ground into an inning-ending double play with runners at the corners. Mets starter Zack Wheeler tossed six innings against his hometown team before he was pulled for a pinch hitter in a game that lasted 4 hours, 37 minutes. "You play that long you want to win, obviously. So yeah, thats rough, but its part of it," Upton said. "Something had to give and it gave their way. Nothing you can do about it." Braves rookie David Hale wriggled out of bases-loaded jams in the second and sixth -- both after errors by second baseman Dan Uggla. Hale was making his second straight start against the Mets and pitching for the first time in 10 days because his scheduled outing Tuesday in Philadelphia was rained out. Wheeler helped himself with an early RBI grounder and took a 2-0 lead into the fifth. Then he issued a leadoff walk and the Braves surged ahead with consecutive one-out doubles by Jason Heyward, B.J. Upton and Freeman. New York tied it on an RBI grounder by Lucas Duda in the sixth, a double-play ball that could have ended the inning if Uggla hadnt botched it. Young scored on Wrights first-inning groundout after Justin Upton muffed his slicing fly for a two-base error. NOTES: Schlosser pitched 3 2-3 innings and singled in his first major league at-bat, moments before the 14th-inning stretch. The souvenir was taken out of play. ... The Mets said OF Bobby Abreu is expected to join the team before Monday nights game against St. Louis. Abreu was hitting .395 with nine RBIs in 39 at-bats at Triple-A Las Vegas. ... RHP Jenrry Mejia (2-0, 2.81 ERA) starts Monday night when the Mets begin a four-game series against NL champion St. Louis. Teuvo Teravainen Blackhawks Jersey . -- The Royals expect to place left-hander Bruce Chen on the disabled list with a swollen disc in his back that has already caused the club to juggle its starting rotation. Brent Seabrook Authentic Jersey . As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back.After 17 days of Olympic hockey, the NHL returns to action tonight with a make-up game between the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes. And theres plenty of intrigue surrounding the game as all eyes are focused on what the Sabres may or may not do with goaltender Ryan Miller going into the trade deadline. Miller, who kept his habit of not talking to reporters after the game day skate, is in the final year of his contract and could opt to leave Buffalo via free agency over the summer. The 33-year-old served as backup to Jonathan Quick for Team USA in February and he could make the difference for a playoff hopeful team down the stretch. The rebuilding club is mulling over whether or not to deal the star netminder - or perhaps even re-sign him - before March 5. Like Miller, Sabres forward Steve Ott is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent over the summer, and, unless Buffalo is able to sign Ott to an extension, his days in Buffalo could be numbered as well. "Obviously I told them I want to be here," Ott recently told his clubs official web site. "Well see where it all goes. Im professional enough to know the business side of things as well and what the situation is here as well. Well see how it all plays out in the next two weeks or so." Buffalo ended its pre-Olympic schedule on a four-game losing streak and it will try to halt that 0-4-0 stretch tonight. With its win last month in Buffalo, the Hurricanes have won two straight and four of their past five games in western New York. Carolina has claimed four in a row and five of six in the series overall. Buffalo is beginning a three-game homestand tonight, but that is hardly a consolation for a club that has lost eight straight as the host. All told, the Sabres are 9-17-5 as the home team this season. Duncan Keith Green Jersey. The Sabres also will be in action on Wednesday night when they host the Boston Bruins. This contest was originally scheduled for Jan. 7 before wintry weather forced that meeting to be postponed until tonight. The clubs met once after that postponement when the Hurricanes notched a 5-3 win in Buffalo on Jan. 23. Alexander Semin had two goals in Carolinas triumph, while Anton Khudobin -- the NHLs First Star for January -- turned aside 26-of-29 shots. Khudobin could hold the key to getting Carolina back to the postseason for the first time since the spring of 2009. The 27-year-old Russian is turning heads in his first season in Raleigh and has clearly outplayed longtime No. 1 backstop Cam Ward in 2013-14. Khudobin entered the Olympic break with a 19-13-6 record, 2.14 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. Ward, meanwhile, is 6-7-5 with a 3.15 GAA and .895 save percentage. Carolina enters tonight three points out of a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, and Khudobin could make a positive difference for the club down the stretch. Although Khudobin helped the Canes win six of their last nine games before the break, the club did find itself on the losing end in three of its final five tests prior to the Olympics. "Its a restart button for everybody," said Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller of the time off. "Its a great opportunity for everyone to take a deep breath and use this break mentally and physically. Our goal is to make the playoffs, and were going to need everybody." Carolina was 2-2-0 on a four-game homestand that completed the teams pre- Olympics schedule and the club will emerge from the hiatus to begin a five- game road trip. The Hurricanes are just 11-10-4 as the visiting team this season. ' ' '
