ATLANTA, June 3 (UPI) -- Vinny Castilla hit a grand slam in the first inning and Andruw Jones broke a tie with a solo blast in the sixth as the Braves continued their winning ways Monday night with a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets.
Steve Trachsel struggled with his control early, allowing walks to Julio Franco and Andruw Jones sandwiched around a single to Gary Sheffield. Castilla took advantage, slicing the first pitch down the line that went off the right field foul pole for his fourth career grand slam.
Castilla, who was 3-for-4 to break out of an 0-for-11 slump, hit his fifth career homer off Trachsel (3-6).
The Braves won for the 13th time in their last 18 games with a big help from their bullpen as four relievers combined to throw 5 1/3 scoreless innings in place of Kevin Millwood.
The Mets lost for the ninth time in their last 14 contests.
Staked to a big lead, Millwood struggled with his control, walking one batter and hitting two more with the bases loaded to force in a pair of runs in the third. The Mets loaded the bases on a double by Rey Ordonez, a walk to Roberto Alomar and a single by Timo Perez.
Millwood tried to be cautious facing the middle of the lineup, but he hit Mike Piazza and Mo Vaughn with pitches to cut the lead to 4-2.
New York tied it at 4-4 in the fourth when Jeromy Burnitz and Roger Cedeno singled and Alomar lined a two-run double the opposite way to left-center field.
The Braves moved back ahead when Andruw Jones hit the first pitch from Trachsel (3-6) over the center field fence to lead off the sixth.
Chris Hammond (2-2) worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Mike Remlinger and Kevin Gryboski followed before John Smoltz recorded the final four outs for his 15th save.
