In case anyone forgot, the Braves had a 10½-game lead over St. Louis for the NL wild card in late August last year but went 9-18 in September and were eliminated on the final night of the regular season.

In the series against the Mets, the Braves hit .151 with seven runs and 14 hits.

“We’re fine,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Four or five of those hits together, and we’ll be fine.”

Mike Minor (0-1), who impressed the Braves by throwing 14 consecutive scoreless innings in his first four spring training starts, gave up six runs, six hits and four walks in five-plus innings.

“I felt good. One little hiccup that just kept on escalating,” Minor said. “It’s early. There’s plenty of season, plenty of games left.”

Overpowering the Braves with a fastball that reached 93 mph, Jonathon Niese (0-1) benefited early from the wide strike zone of plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, who called out Michael Bourn and Martin Prado on strikes as Niese fanned the side in the third.

McCann, the Braves’ catcher, didn’t think the strike zone was as big for Minor.

“There were some very close calls that didn’t go his way,” he said.

Niese took a no-hit bid into the seventh and retired 15 straight batters before Dan Uggla walked on 10 pitches and Freddie Freeman singled cleanly to right. Pitching for the first time since the Mets gave him a $25.5 million, five-year deal, Niese allowed just two balls out of the infield through six innings. Freeman singled on his 99th pitch.

Niese lasted just two more batters. Right fielder Lucas Duda, looking into a sunny, cloudless sky, dropped Matt Diaz’s fly ball for a run-scoring error that made it 7-1, and Jason Heyward chased Niese with a two-run double. Pinch-hitter Jack Wilson added a sacrifice fly off Manny Acosta.

McCann, who had been 0 for 10 in the series, homered in the eighth over the newly pulled-in fence in right, a ball that likely would have been a flyout in previous seasons at Citi Field.

“Nobody wants to go 0 for series,” Gonzalez said. “Glad to see people getting going.”

New York is 3-0 for the first time since opening with four wins in 2007. The Mets have a .320 batting average and a 1.67 ERA.

“We’re excited — 3-0, man. You can’t draw it up any better than that,” Daniel Murphy said.

Ruben Tejada had a career-best four hits, and Frank Francisco became the first Mets reliever with saves in his first three games.

Before a crowd of 27,855 on Easter Sunday, more than 14,000 short of capacity, sacrifice flies by David Wright in the first and Duda in the fourth built a lead. Murphy hit a two-run double in the fifth, and the Mets made it 7-0 in the sixth on Scott Hairston’s RBI double against Cristhian Martinez and Tejada’s two-run double.

Niese allowed four runs — two earned — and two hits in six-plus innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.

“What we need to do is put together some really good at-bats,” McCann said. “We feel like in the course of the full season we’ll pull our weight.”

NOTES: Last year Atlanta was not swept in a series of three games or more until Sept. 5-7 at Philadelphia. … The Braves said 3B Chipper Jones will work out in Houston before Monday night’s game at the Astros. He is eligible to come off the disabled list Tuesday following surgery March 26 to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. … LHP Sean Gilmartin, taken by the Braves with the 28th pick of last year’s amateur draft, allowed two hits in six shutout innings in his Double-A debut, a 1-0 loss by Mississippi to Mobile in the Southern League on Saturday. … RHP Tim Hudson, returning from back surgery on Nov. 28, pitched three innings in a rehab assignment for Class-A Rome in the South Atlantic League against Charleston. He allowed two runs and four hits. Two of the hits were infield singles by Dante Bichette Jr.

The New York Yankees, of course, remain the cash king and topped $200 million on opening day for the fifth consecutive year. And at $30 million, the Yanks’ Alex Rodriguez remains the richest of the rich, baseball’s highest-paid player for the 12th straight season.

The major league average salary rose 4.1 percent to $3.44 million, the steepest hike since 2008.

Lucrative deals came from unexpected places, with Albert Pujols getting $240 million from Angels owner Arte Moreno and Prince Fielder $214 million from Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch.

“Maybe they just have more saved up or something,” Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said before his team opened against the Tigers. “Being here in Detroit, and seeing what Mr. Ilitch is trying to do around this area and for the city of Detroit — I think spending money on his team to make this city feel proud of something is a fabulous, fabulous effort.”

Cincinnati struck a deal this week with Joey Votto for $251.5 million over 12 years — the longest contract in big league history and the third richest. San Francisco gave Matt Cain $127.5 million over the next six seasons, the highest contract for a right-handed pitcher.

“It’s either an organization saying, ‘Hey, we’re willing to stick our neck out for this team because we think we’ve got good enough players to win here,’” Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo concluded, “or it could say to some guys that maybe there’s more money there than they’re leading on.”

Some fear that the incoming owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, after spending $2 billion for the team, might covet next November’s free agents, a group that currently includes pitchers Cole Hamels and Zack Greinke.

“It’s kind of humorous to me,” San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean said. “These guys haven’t even taken over yet and all of a sudden they’re going to take every player in baseball.”

Revenue sharing has spread the wealth, and more teams have rich cable television contracts.

“Without economic reformation, none of this happens,” baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said. “It has been great for everybody — big markets, medium, small, everybody — because there’s a sense of fairness.”

The renamed Miami Marlins, in their new hip ballpark, boosted payroll by about $40 million, even after factoring in the more than $15 million they are getting from the Cubs along with Carlos Zambrano. Adding All-Stars Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle didn’t come cheap.

After winning its second straight AL pennant, Texas’ spending went up by about $27 million, about as much as Detroit’s. Kansas City and Tampa Bay had hikes almost as large.

“Look at Kansas City making a good investment. Pittsburgh made a nice run last year,” Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I was in Tampa Bay when they really stink. Little by little, they do the right thing. I think it’s going to be better competition from now on than it was in the past.”

But for every nearly ever booster there was a slasher.

According to MLB figures, which include money in trades, cash paid released players and buyouts, the Mets went from $139.8 million at the start of last season to $96.4 million. The $43.4 million decrease is thought to be the largest in baseball history, topping when Texas cut by $38.7 million before the 2004 season.

While cutting payroll, the Mets’ owners waged a legal fight against the trustee for victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, who sought as much as $1 billion. The case was settled last month for up to $162 million.

“To the extent that payrolls move closer together, it probably is a sign of additional competitiveness,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said.

Oakland, unhappy it hasn’t been able to get permission from MLB to build a ballpark in San Jose, has the lowest payroll at just under $53 million, according to the AP study. While Pittsburgh hiked up to $63 million after its MLB-record 19th straight losing season, the Pirates are getting $11.5 million of that back from the Yankees as part of the A.J. Burnett trade.

The Yankees, who have reached the postseason in 16 of the last 17 years, reached $200 million not even including the money they are paying Pittsburgh to take Burnett off their hands. Or the $2.5 million owed Andy Pettitte once he’s added to their roster.

After the Yankees there’s a drop to the Phillies at $174 million and the Red Sox at $173 million, followed by the Angels at $155 million and the Tigers at $132 million.

“We’re always going to have a gap between the economic realities of a New York or an LA versus a Pittsburgh. What is important for us in Pittsburgh is that we never use that as an excuse,” Pirates owner Bob Nutting said. “We need to be very efficient in the way we allocate and maximize any efficiencies we have, and never ever use the economic system as an excuse. We walk in every day believing we can create a winning team within this economic system and we’re going to.”

A-Rod was followed on the money list by the Angels’ Vernon Wells at $24.6 million, followed by Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia ($24.3 million), returning Mets ace Johan Santana ($23.15 million) and Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira ($23.13 million). Fielder’s deal with Detroit placed him in a tie for sixth with Minnesota’s Joe Mauer at $23 million.

The AP’s figures include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income. For some players, parts of deferred signing bonuses and salaries are discounted to reflect current values.

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AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley and AP Sports Writers Mike Fitzpatrick, Will Graves, Joe Kay, Andrew Seligman, Noah Trister and Steven Wine contributed to this report.

The New York Yankees, of course, remain the cash king and topped $200 million on opening day for the fifth consecutive year. And at $30 million, the Yanks’ Alex Rodriguez remains the richest of the richest, baseball’s highest-paid player for the 12th straight season.

The major league average salary rose 4.1 percent to $3.44 million, the steepest hike since 2008.

Lucrative deals came from unexpected places, with Albert Pujols getting $240 million from Angels owner Arte Moreno and Fielder $214 million from Tigers owner Mike Ilitch.

“Maybe they just have more saved up or something,” Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said before his team opened against the Tigers. “Being here in Detroit, and seeing what Mr. Ilitch is trying to do around this area and for the city of Detroit — I think spending money on his team to make this city feel proud of something is a fabulous, fabulous effort.”

Spreading the wealth this week, Cincinnati struck a deal with Joey Votto for $251.5 million over 12 years — the longest deal in big league history and the third richest. San Francisco gave Matt Cain $127.5 million over the next six seasons, the highest contract for a right-handed pitcher.

“I think it’s a healthy sign to the extent that the weaker clubs financially, or lower-revenue clubs, are starting to spend a little more. It would suggest that revenues have been improving for those clubs,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. “To the extent that payrolls move closer together, it probably is a sign of additional competitiveness. Although, again, there’s not always a correlation between the payroll and team success.”

Some fear that the incoming owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, after spending $2 billion for the team, might covet next November’s free agents, a group that currently includes pitchers Cole Hamels and Zack Greinke.

“It’s kind of humorous to me,” San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean said. “These guys haven’t even taken over yet and all of a sudden they’re going to take every player in baseball.”

Lots of baseball executives are contemplating what the Dodgers’ megadeal means for their teams.

“It’s an incredible price,” Yankees President Randy Levine said. “One can only imagine what the value of the Yankees would be at a market sale.”

Revenue sharing has spread the wealth, and more teams have rich cable television contracts.

“Without economic reformation, none of this happens,” baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said Wednesday. “It has been great for everybody — big markets, medium, small, everybody — because there’s a sense of fairness.”

The renamed Miami Marlins, in their new hip ballpark, boosted payroll by about $40 million, even after factoring in the more than $15 million they are getting from the Cubs along with Carlos Zambrano. Adding All-Stars Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle didn’t come cheap.

After winning its second straight AL pennant, Texas’ spending went up by about $27 million, about as much as Detroit’s. Kansas City and Tampa Bay had hikes almost as large.

“It’s gotten to like every fan when that season starts feels like their team’s got a chance,” Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “And that’s the way it should be.”

But for every nearly ever booster there was a slasher.

According to MLB figures, which include money in trades, cash paid released players and buyouts, the Mets went from $139.8 million at the start of last season to $96.4 million. The $43.4 million decrease is thought to be the largest in baseball history, topping when Texas cut by $38.7 million before the 2004 season.

While cutting payroll, the Mets’ owners waged a legal fight against the trustee for victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, who sought as much as $1 billion. The case was settled last month for up to $162 million.

Oakland, unhappy it hasn’t been able to get permission from MLB to build a ballpark in San Jose, has the lowest payroll at just under $53 million, according to the AP study. While Pittsburgh hiked up to $63 million after its MLB-record 19th straight losing season, the Pirates are getting $11.5 million of that back from the Yankees as part of the A.J. Burnett trade.

“The payroll thing is kind of an excuse honestly,” Pirates outfielder Nate McLouth said. “You don’t play dollar against dollar. You have to go out on the field and do it. You know teams with higher payrolls have players who have prolonged success as opposed to teams with lower payrolls, but honestly that doesn’t play into anything when we play or step on the field.”

Still, a high payroll usually means a better chance of reaching the playoffs.

The Yankees, who have reached the postseason in 16 of the last 17 years, reached $200 million not even including the money they are paying Pittsburgh to take Burnett off their hands. Or the $2.5 million owed Andy Pettitte once he’s added to their roster.

After the Yankees there’s a drop to the Phillies at $174 million and the Red Sox at $173 million, followed by the Angels at $155 million and the Tigers at $132 million.

“It seems like the landscape out there is getting a little bit flatter,” said Theo Epstein, the Cubs’ new president of baseball operations. “We’ll see how it all plays out.”

A-Rod was followed on the money list by the Angels’ Vernon Wells at $24.6 million, followed by Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia ($24.3 million), returning Mets ace Johan Santana ($23.15 million) and Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira ($23.13 million). Fielder’s deal with Detroit placed him in a tie for sixth with Minnesota’s Joe Mauer at $23 million.

The AP’s figures include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income. For some players, parts of deferred signing bonuses and salaries are discounted to reflect current values.

Million-dollar salaries dropped slightly, from 453 to 448. Still, that’s nearly 53 percent of the 852 players on opening-day rosters and disabled lists. The number of $10 million players increased from 82 to 89, and $20 million stars rose from 10 to 14.

Sixty-eight players make the $480,000 minimum — boosted from $414,000 under baseball’s new labor contract. The median salary, the point at which an equal numbers are above and below, declined by $25,000 to $1,075,000, down from a record $1,125,000 in 2009.

There were 103 players on the disabled list, nine more than at the start of last year and the most on opening day since 2008.

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AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley and AP Sports Writers Mike Fitzpatrick, Will Graves, Andrew Seligman, Noah Trister and Steven Wine contributed to this report.