NEW YORK _ Kurt Suzuki was frustrated after the Braves catcher's passed ball let in the tying run in the fourth inning Thursday, but he didn't have to wait long to get a little redemption.
Suzuki's three-run homer in the fifth inning ended a very rough day for Mets starter Matt Harvey and propelled the Braves to a 7-5 win that gave them a sweep of a series shortened to two games after a Tuesday rainout.
The Braves got five strong innings from R.A. Dickey (2-2) before he left the game with a left-quadriceps spasm. In his first start at Citi Field since the Mets traded him to Toronto after his 2012 Cy Young Award season, Dickey allowed five hits and three runs (two earned) with two walks and three strikeouts.
The reeling Mets scored two runs in the ninth against Jim Johnson before losing for the 10th time in 11 games.
Suzuki's first home run for the Braves was also the first three-run homer for the team all season. Seventeen of the Braves' 21 homers have come with bases empty and the other three were hit with one runner on base.
Atlanta (8-12) moved ahead of the Mets (8-13), who've dropped six in a row to sink to last place in the National League East. The Braves have almost as many wins (three) in five games this season at Citi Field as the Mets, who are 4-10 in their home park.
Dickey, 42, had been scheduled to face Noah Syndergaard, who was a 20-year-old pitching prospect when traded to the Mets from Toronto as part of that deal for Dickey. But Syndergaard, now one of the top power pitchers in the National League, was scratched from his start Thursday morning due to what was described as arm fatigue and biceps discomfort.
Harvey's start was moved up a day and did not go well as the Braves peppered the so-called "Dark Knight" for five hits, six runs and five walks in just 41/3 innings.
Harvey (2-1) issued three walks in the second inning and the Braves took a 2-0 lead when the first two of those walked batters _ Nick Markakis and Suzuki _ scored on a one-out single by Jace Peterson and Dickey's ground-out. Dickey has four RBIs in 10 at-bats in his first season back in the NL after four years in the American League.
The Mets had a prime scoring opportunity in the second inning after a leadoff double from Jay Bruce. But when Neil Walker followed with a single to shallow center, Ender Inciarte made a perfect throw to the plate to cut down Bruce trying to score. Dickey retired the next two batters on a ground-out and strikeout to preserve the 2-0 lead.
Dickey had a chance to add to his RBI total in the fourth after the Braves loaded the bases with none out, but Dansby Swanson and Dickey each grounded into a force at home and Ender Inciarte lined out to end the inning. And it looked like that blown opportunity might haunt the Braves when the Mets scored twice in the bottom of the inning to tie on an RBI double from Neil Walker and the passed ball charged to Suzuki.
Yoenis Cespedes led off the New York fourth inning with a double and pulled a hamstring on the play, leaving the game and adding the mounting injury woes for a reeling Mets.
One inning later, Suzuki's passed ball was reduced to a footnote. Adonis Garcia led off the fifth with a single and scored the go-ahead run on Freddie Freeman's double, and one out and an intentional walk to Nick Markakis later, Suzuki drove Harvey's final pitch of the day over the left-field fence for the veteran catcher's first home run of the season and a 6-2 lead.
