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NEW YORK - Mike Piazza stepped out from the Mets dugout, waved to the roaring crowd and soaked in a rare curtain call.
For baseball's greatest slugging catcher, the celebrations have been few and far between lately. One big swing got him back in the fans' good graces.
"It felt good," Piazza said with a big smile. "It really did."
Piazza hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the eighth inning and David Wright connected twice to lead the Mets over the Atlanta Braves 6-3 Thursday night.
Piazza, hitting .260 with 10 homers and 39 RBIs, has struggled to produce big hits the past few seasons while dealing with injuries and a failed attempt to move to first base. He came through this time, though, sending Blaine Boyer's 0-and-2 pitch over the rightfield wall.
The homer was Piazza's 388th, one behind Johnny Bench for 46th on the career list, and gave him 1,200 career RBIs.
"It's weird," Piazza said. "I feel like I've been swinging the bat pretty well. I'm not hitting .350 or anything, but I guess I was lucky the first part of my career. I guess it's catching up to me a little bit."
Carlos Beltran matched a career high with four hits as the Mets beat the Braves for the third time in 10 meetings. It was the opener of a four-game series between the East rivals.
With the score tied at 3, Beltran hit a one-out double in the eighth off reliever Jim Brower. John Foster followed by walking Cliff Floyd on four pitches. Braves manager Bobby Cox then brought in Boyer to face Piazza.
"You don't want to get beat 0-2 when you've got the hitter in the hole," Cox said. "It was a bad pitch, but it's a pitch that Mike's so strong, he can hit it out."
Former Devil Ray Roberto Hernandez earned the win in relief of starter Kris Benson with one scoreless inning. Braden Looper pitched a perfect ninth for his 21st save.
Adam LaRoche homered for the Braves, who have lost three straight after winning a season-high six in a row.
The Mets tied it at 3 in the seventh on Jose Offerman's single, his sixth hit as a pinch-hitter in nine at-bats.
PHILLIES 13, MARLINS 7: Mike Lieberthal and Pat Burrell each hit two homers to lead Philadelphia.
It was an important win for the Phillies, who are trying to to get back in the East race. Not only are they trying to catch first-place Washington, they are attempting to knock Florida out of contention before the July 31 trading deadline.
This was the first of a 10-game road trip for the Marlins that includes stops in Arizona and San Francisco. The Phillies opened a 10-game homestand, with Los Angeles and San Diego also visiting.
BREWERS 4, NATIONALS 2: Damian Miller atoned for a baserunning blunder with a two-run double off Gary Majewski in the eighth for host Milwaukee.
Miller, who was caught trying to score from third on a comebacker an inning earlier, sent a full-count pitch to the gap in left-center to break a tie at 2.
Matt Wise picked up the win with one hitless inning of relief, and Derrick Turnbow pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 20 chances.
D'BACKS 6, PADRES 0: Javier Vazquez pitched eight sharp innings while getting two hits and scoring a run for visiting Arizona. Shawn Green had three hits for the Diamondbacks, who pulled within 41/2 of the West-leading Padres in baseball's weakest division.
CUBS 5, PIRATES 1: Mark Prior allowed two hits in eight strong innings and helped himself with two singles, and host Chicago won its fourth straight. Prior gave up a second-inning single to Matt Lawton and a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Tike Redman in the eighth.
GIANTS 4, DODGERS 3: Light-hitting Omar Vizquel's three-run homer in the seventh inning drove in the go-ahead runs, and the San Francisco Giants took advantage of the early ejection of Los Angeles starter Brad Penny to beat the Dodgers 4-3 Thursday night.
Penny was thrown out in the third inning by plate umpire Rob Drake after tossing his helmet in protest of a call at first base.
Jason Schmidt (6-6) pitched six solid innings to snap a two-game losing streak. Tyler Walker, the fourth Giants pitcher, worked the ninth for his 14th save in 16 chances.
The win was the 10,000th for the Giant franchise.