NL East Wrap: Braves rally past Mets

In the eighth inning, the Braves got their wish.

"Everybody's mind was mentally tough," Heyward said. "Just hanging in there. Not trying to do too much at the plate, just trying to do whatever we could to prolong the inning, prolong the game."

Heyward singled to cap a three-run rally and the Braves took advantage after the umpires reversed a call, beating the New York Mets 8-7 Saturday for their sixth straight win.

The Braves' comeback prevented a shaky R.A. Dickey from getting his 11th win in a row. Bobby Parnell (2-2) gave up RBI singles with two outs in the eighth to Michael Bourn, Martin Prado and Heyward.

Parnell had held opponents scoreless in his previous nine appearances, but his struggles caused New York's bullpen to drop to 11-18 this season, 15-37 when allowing a run.

"This team is going to battle you the whole nine," Heyward said. "It's great to get a win, and a team win at that."

Mets manager Terry Collins was ejected while disputing a call in Atlanta's two-run fifth (see full story).

Carlos Lee and John Buck drove in the runs for Miami, which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Buehrle (9-8) won his fourth consecutive start by allowing one run and six hits. He struck out seven and walked two.

Steve Cishek pitched the final 1 2-3 innings to earn his second save, and first since May 25 against San Francisco. It was the first save opportunity for the Marlins after manager Ozzie Guillen announced Heath Bell had been removed from the closer role.

Cishek allowed a two-out single to Roger Bernadina in the ninth and Bernadina stole second, but Jesus Flores struck out to end the game (see full story).

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Tags: mlb, Mets, Marlins, Braves, nationals, NL East