ATLANTA -- Despite Tim Hudson momentarily experiencing those long-ball troubles he'd previously cured this year, hope was still right around the corner for the Braves. But like all of their seemingly positive advances toward the postseason, this generous sixth-inning opportunity would prove to be nothing more than a tease.

Entrenched in a key three-game series against the first-place Mets, the Braves certainly didn't need to see Hudson surrender more homers during a five-batter stretch than he'd allowed in his previous 82 1/3 innings combined. Nor did they need to witness the middle of their lineup reject the bases-loaded generosity John Maine provided them in the costly sixth.

Most importantly, the Braves didn't need to allow the stumbling Mets to right themselves in the fashion that they did courtesy of the 7-1 series-opening win that they claimed at Turner Field on Friday night.

While winning just the fifth time in 13 games against Atlanta this year, the first-place Mets gained a 5 1/2 game lead over the Braves in the National League East race. In addition, they healed some of the wounds created earlier this week when they were swept by the second-place Phillies, who now stand 3 1/2 games in front of Atlanta.

"It's frustrating that three pitches cost us the game," said Hudson, who surrendered a three-run homer to his longtime nemesis Carlos Delgado with two outs in the fourth inning and then saw Jose Reyes drill a two-out solo shot against him in the fifth inning.

That third pitch referenced by Hudson was the 1-2 slider that Moises Alou turned into a two-out single in the decisive fourth inning. While Alou was able to extend the inning to give Delgado a chance to homer for the fifth time in 48 career at-bats off Hudson, Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann came up empty in the disastrous sixth.

After collecting just two singles through the first five innings, the Braves seemingly came to life when they loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth. But Maine got both Jones and Teixeira to hit harmless infield pop flies and then escaped the potentially damaging situation by getting McCann to look at strike three during an at-bat that included a 3-0 count.

The only damage incurred by Maine came when Pete Orr scored on a wild pitch that was uncorked during Teixeira's at-bat.

"We had the right guys up there," said Braves manager Bobby Cox, whose team collected just four hits on the evening. "They've been doing it all year. They just didn't do it [Friday]."

While losing seven of their past 10 games, the Braves have been unable to take advantage of the opportunities that they'd profited from throughout much of the season. They are hitting .292 with runners in scoring position this year. But during this 10-game stretch, that mark stands at .260.

"This isn't 'all year,'" said Braves hitting coach Terry Pendleton, who has stressed to his players that it's time for them to prove that they can produce under the pressure the postseason chase presents.

Entering Friday's game, Hudson had surrendered a total of five homers this year -- considerably better than the career-high 25 homers he allowed last year. In fact, entering Delgado's decisive at-bat, the only long ball he'd surrendered in the 82 1/3 innings he'd pitched since June 19 came off the bat of Barry Bonds.

But Delgado had no problem depositing a flat cutter over the center-field wall for his three-run homer. As for Reyes, the damage he can produce with his speed on the basepaths led Hudson to carefully deliver a 3-2 sinker that stayed up and found its way over the right-field wall.

Like Hudson in both the fourth and fifth innings, right-handed reliever Jose Ascanio retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth inning. But by the time he recorded his third out in the inning, Marlon Anderson had already driven a stake through the Braves with his pinch-hit three-run double.

"We have to go out there like we want to win the ballgame," a frustrated Hudson said. "We just have to go out there, play hard and do whatever it takes to win. It's just frustrating when you go out there and feel like you never really had a chance to win the ballgame."

Before losing to the Cardinals on Saturday, Hudson had gone 11 consecutive starts without a loss. He's now lost consecutive starts for just the second time this season.

Even with Hudson being victimized during this series opener, the Braves can still make up some ground this weekend. Chuck James will face the winless Mike Pelfrey on Saturday, and John Smoltz will look to remain perfect against his good friend Tom Glavine in the series finale.

But time is running out for the Braves, and as they are being reminded, they must start taking advantage of every opportunity. If they are unable to do so, they'll spend all of September encountering the same false optimism that has surrounded them all year.

"Pretty much every game against everybody from here on out is huge for us," Hudson said. "Our backs are against the wall. We need to start playing better baseball. We need to start pitching better. We need to start doing everything better. We've got to go out there and start playing with a little more passion."