NEW YORK -- It took all afternoon before Curtis Granderson finally generated some goodwill at Citi Field. 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. Roberto Clemente Jersey . -- Arizona came out of its last meeting with California a bit discombobulated, hurting from its first loss and the loss of forward Brandon Ashley for the rest of the season. Willie Stargell Jersey . Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us/. Sijsling, ranked 74th in the world, was leading 6-0, 4-1 when his Italian opponent called it quits after just 39 minutes on court. In a match pitting together two qualifiers, Michal Przysiezny of Poland defeated local favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) for only his second Tour win of the season. Dave Parker Jersey . Although taking two of three from the Baltimore Orioles wasnt nearly as uplifting as winning the World Series, it still felt pretty darn good. Felix Doubront and four relievers combined kept Baltimores potent lineup in check, and David Ortiz had three of Bostons 12 hits off Wei-Yin Chen in a 4-3 victory Thursday night. Kent Tekulve Jersey .The ruling takes effect on Jan. 1 and stems from the debate surrounding Paralympic champion Markus Rehm, an amputee who won the national long jump title competing with a carbon-fiber prosthesis.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- As long as they have Albert Pujols at the plate in a clutch situation, the Los Angeles Angels are confident they can win any close game they trail in the late innings. Pujols hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning Wednesday and Kole Calhoun also connected, leading the Angels to an 8-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Los Angeles took the rubber game of the three-game series after starter C.J. Wilson was chased in the fourth inning. "This team is finding ways to win, and were not out of it until the games over," Calhoun said. "The bullpen came in and did a great job keeping us in the ballgame after the starting pitching didnt go as deep as theyve usually been going. We came out and swung the bats and got enough runs to win." The Blue Jays took a 7-6 lead in the sixth on Dioner Navarros two-out RBI single against Fernando Salas, making his second appearance since coming off the disabled list after missing 19 games because of inflammation in his shoulder. Pujols responded with a drive that hit the top of the centre-field fence beyond the outstretched glove of Colby Rasmus and bounced over for his 20th homer of the season and 512th of his career, tying Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews for 21st place all-time. It scored Mike Trout, who reached on a fielders choice grounder after Calhoun drew a leadoff walk from Aaron Loup (2-2). The homer was the first allowed by Loup this season after 43 1-3 innings. "The curious thing was that they had the righty warmed up, and Albert hit that home run off a lefty. So we were like, Oh, awesome. Theyre leaving him in to face Albert, and he came up with a huge homer," Wilson said. "So it was great for us. We have a tenacious team, and the nature of our clubhouse is that we always believe that its going to happen." Jason Grilli (1-1) pitched a scoreless inning for his first AL victory since 2009 with Texas, striking out cleanup hitter Jose Bautista with two on to end the seventh. The 12-year veteran was acquired June 27 in a trade that sent Ernesto Frieri to Pittsburgh. Joe Smith worked the ninth for his 12th save. "We (threw) away a good opportunity today," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "We had the lead, coughed it up,, then took a slim lead.dddddddddddd So it was disappointing. But hey, we left so many guys on base (12), and there comes a time youve got to blow open a game." Marcus Stroman was charged with five earned runs and eight hits through 4 2-3 innings in his eighth big league start. The 23-year-old right-handers teammates staked him to a 6-3 lead with a five-run fourth, but David Freese scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half and Calhoun drove his 10th homer into the lower seats in the right-field corner. "Early on against me, I felt like he was putting the ball anywhere he wanted to. But with a 2-0 count, I got a fastball that got a lot of the plate and I put a good swing on it," Calhoun said. The Blue Jays parlayed three hits, two errors and a bases-loaded wild pitch into their five-run rally against Wilson. He was charged with six runs -- three earned -- and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings. He is 3-3 with a 5.70 ERA in 10 starts since May 17, when he threw 127 pitches in a five-hit shutout against Tampa Bay. "I think my delivery was a lot better today and the ball was going where I wanted it a lot better," said Wilson, who gave up three homers in his previous start against Houston. The Angels took a 2-0 lead in the second, capitalizing on a two-base error by shortstop Jose Reyes. Howie Kendrick and Freese each had an RBI single. The Blue Jays got one run back in the third on a bases-loaded walk to Reimould. Trout, thrown out by Melky Cabrera in left field Tuesday night as he tried to stretch a double, tested Cabreras arm again in the third inning Wednesday and was cut down at home plate after Pujols single. Pujols scored on a single by Josh Hamilton that ended his 0-for-16 drought and gave the Angels a 3-1 lead. NOTES: LHP Joe Thatcher relieved Cam Bedrosian in the Toronto fifth after a leadoff double by Navarro and walked Darin Mastroianni, ending a stretch of 25 appearances in which Thatcher pitched 14 innings and faced 56 batters without walking anyone. ... Calhouns homer was the second allowed by Toronto pitchers in a span of 74 innings since the start of the month, after they gave up 27 during their final 22 games in June. ... Wilson threw 25 pitches in the first inning and gave up three hits without allowing a run. ' ' '