NEW YORK — Chris Capuano pitched the game of his life, tossing a two-hitter and striking out a career-high 13 as the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 6-0 Friday night in their final matchup before taking a break because of Hurricane Irene.
    New flood gates were put in place outside Citi Field as a precaution, but Major League Baseball took no chances. The Braves-Mets games on Saturday and Sunday were postponed, to be made up as a doubleheader on Sept. 8.
    The shutdown comes right after the Mets, at last, won the opener of a homestand. They had been 0-10 in those games this year, a big league record for the start of a season.
    Justin Turner and Lucas Duda each hit two-run doubles and Nick Evans and Josh Thole had RBI singles. Thole's wife is from upstate New York, near Binghamton, and the Mets catcher and pitcher Dillon Gee planned to drive there to ride out the storm, expected to hit this weekend.
    Capuano (10-11) slowed down the NL wild-card leaders and handed them their second loss in nine games. He had Atlanta hitters taking terrible swings all game, didn't walk any of them and faced just one batter over the minimum.
    Capuano threw 122 pitches in the first complete game of the season for the Mets. He finished off his gem by striking out Michael Bourn for the fourth time.
    An All-Star in 2006 with Milwaukee, the left-hander has been slowed by two Tommy John surgeries. This was the third shutout and fourth complete game of his career — the others came long ago, in his All-Star season.
    Capuano did not allow a runner until Dan Uggla grounded a shattered-bat single through the left side leading off the fifth. Freddie Freeman followed by bouncing into a double play. Atlanta's only other runner came in the eighth when David Ross doubled with two outs.
    Tim Hudson (13-8) lost to the Mets for the third time this year — he's beaten them 14 times, his highest win total against any opponent. He'd gone at least seven innings in nine straight starts, but the Mets tagged him for 11 hits in 6 1-3 innings.
    Ruben Tejada had three hits and scored on Evans' two-out single in the fifth to break a scoreless tie. Thole followed with his RBI single.
    Hudson left with two runners on in the seventh. After reliever George Sherrill retired Thole on a flyball, Turner doubled off Scott Linebrink for a 4-0 lead.
    Duda had three hits, including his two-run double off Jonny Venters in the eighth.
    NOTES: Venters had gone 24 straight appearances without allowing a run, spanning 22 2-3 innings. This was his majors-leading 71st appearance. ... Mets LF Jason Bay was scratched because of a jammed right shoulder. ... SS Jose Reyes (hamstring) is expected to rejoin the Mets on Monday. Collins said he'd try to give Reyes more rest in the future, hoping to limit injuries. "Next summer, I think he's going to be here," Collins said of the free agent-to-be. Reyes homered in going 1 for 3 Friday night in his second rehabilitation game at Double-A Binghamton, and played seven innings in the field.