Braun drives in 4, leaves Mets in a mess after Milwaukee extends New York’s slide

Braun drives in 4, Brewers top skidding Mets again

MILWAUKEE — The injury-depleted Mets are a mess, and not even Johan Santana could help against a fill-in starter.

Ryan Braun drove in four runs and Mike Burns earned his first career win, giving the Milwaukee Brewers a 6-3 victory Tuesday night that extended New York’s losing streak to a season-high five games.

Afterward, Mets manager Jerry Manuel called a team meeting that lasted nearly 30 minutes. Santana (9-6) said the tone was positive.

“It was about getting everybody on the same page. It’s over. We just have to bounce back and get it going,” Santana said after giving up nine hits and four walks in six-plus innings. “That’s the way it is. That’s reality. It needed to be addressed and that’s what we did.”

The 30-year-old Burns (1-1), pitching in place of injured starter Dave Bush, gave Milwaukee some hope that after a rough patch of its own the Brewers are coming out on the other side.

Milwaukee has won four of five after a season-high four-game skid and increased its lead to two games over St. Louis in the NL Central despite a 12-15 record in June.

“It should do nothing but build confidence for him,” manager Ken Macha said about Burns’ outing. “He knows he can throw the ball over and change speeds, throw strikes with all his pitches.”

The third-place Mets (37-39) seem to lack confidence right now. They went 9-18 in June, their worst month in nearly six years. They are three games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East and only a game in front of Atlanta.

The Mets headed into July on the verge of being swept for the second straight series. They are still missing injured stars Carlos Beltran (knee), Jose Reyes (calf, hamstring) and Carlos Delgado (hip), but Manuel said the team has enough pieces to win.

“I don’t want us to feel sorry for ourselves,” he said.

New York did get some good news Tuesday when a second examination of Beltran’s bruised right knee also indicated surgery is not required.

The opinion from Dr. Richard Steadman in Vail, Colo., was the same as that of the Mets’ medical staff. Beltran likely will be out through the All-Star break while waiting for the bone bruise to subside. He will be evaluated later this week and rest until he is pain-free.

Brewers slugger Prince Fielder hit a 452-foot solo homer off Santana that landed in the back of the right-field bleachers in the second deck. Braun improved to 7 for 13 against the two-time Cy Young Award winner.

Braun, who hit a three-run double in the fourth and scored on the play when Santana made a throwing error, said the next two weeks could shape the NL playoff race.

“It couldn’t get much better,” Braun said. “We have a tough schedule up until the All-Star break. We’ve got these guys one more day, go to Chicago and then we’ve got the Dodgers and Cardinals.

“It’s definitely not going to be easy and I think where we finish out the rest of the first half is probably going to be pretty indicative of how the rest of our season will go.”

At Los Angeles, Jason Marquis tossed a two-hitter to become the first 10-game winner in the National League.

Marquis had a two-run single and outpitched Chad Billingsley (9-4) in a matchup of potential All-Stars. Brad Hawpe homered for the resurgent Rockies, who set a franchise record for wins in a month with 21.

Marquis (10-5) faced two batters more than the minimum and threw just 86 pitches in his third career shutout. The complete game was his sixth in 214 career starts and second this season.

At St. Louis, Randy Johnson (8-5) earned his 303rd victory, beating Chris Carpenter (5-3) to win his third consecutive decision despite giving up two homers to Albert Pujols.

St. Louis has lost three straight and six of seven. Pujols leads the majors with 30 homers and 77 RBIs after his third multihomer game in his last 10, his seventh this season and the 30th of his career.

At Atlanta, Martin Prado singled home the winning run to finish with a career-best four hits and four RBIs, helping the Braves to their first home win over Philadelphia since 2007. Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins was 0 for 5 in his return to the lineup after being held out four straight games.

At Cincinnati, Dan Haren held the Reds scoreless into the seventh and hit his first career homer off Bronson Arroyo (8-7) as Arizona snapped its longest losing streak of the season. The Diamondbacks had lost five straight and eight of nine. Haren (7-5) lowered his ERA to an NL-best 2.19.

At Pittsburgh, Ross Ohlendorf (7-6) pitched seven impressive innings and Freddy Sanchez scored from second on a ball that bounded only a few feet from home plate.

Sanchez went 3 for 3, reached base four times, and drove in two runs as the Pirates beat the Cubs for the sixth time in their last 26 games in Pittsburgh. The Cubs finished 11-14 in June, their first losing month since August 2007.

At Miami, Hanley Ramirez homered and drove in four runs, and Florida erased a four-run deficit during a game called in the seventh inning because of rain.

Ramirez’s two-run single off Joe Beimel (0-4) in the seventh put the Marlins ahead 6-5. Jorge Cantu followed with an RBI single moments before play was stopped, and Washington never got another chance to bat.

At San Diego, David Eckstein singled home the go-ahead run to cap a three-run rally in the seventh.

Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez left with a strained right knee after sliding hard into third base on an RBI triple. It was not immediately known if he will miss any time.

Josh Banks (1-0) threw seven solid innings in his first major league start this season. Heath Bell got four outs for his NL-best 22nd save in 23 chances.