ATLANTA (AP) R.A. Dickey claims he hasn't had a consistently good knuckleball through any start this season.
The 42-year-old Dickey has still been good enough for two straight wins over Matt Harvey and the Mets.
Dickey's floaters were more effective than Matt Harvey's fastballs for the second time in a week, Ender Inciarte drove in three runs with three hits and the Atlanta Braves beat New York 9-7 on Tuesday night.
''On a scale of one to 10, I probably only had a four knuckleball,'' Dickey said. ''I didn't really have a good one. I tried to manage the game by changing speeds on it a bunch.''
The Braves scored three runs off Harvey in the fourth, when Inciarte had a two-run single, and added three more off two relievers in the seventh.
Atlanta needed the extra runs, because New York's Jay Bruce drove in six with two homers, including a grand slam off Matt Wisler in the ninth.
Dickey (3-2) allowed three runs and four hits in six innings. He had four walks. He also started in a 7-5 win over Harvey and the Mets in New York on Thursday.
Harvey (2-2) gave up six runs for the second straight start against Atlanta. Harvey allowed eight hits with three walks in 5 1/3 innings.
The loss left Harvey with a 5.14 ERA, a troubling sign for a Mets rotation which just lost ace Noah Syndergaard for an unknown period of time with a partial tear of his right lat muscle. But Harvey, who was throwing his fastball at 95 and 96 mph late in the outing, said he was encouraged.
''Today was the best I've felt in a long time and the ball was coming out better than it had for a few years,'' Harvey said. ''I just have to locate. It's fine tuning that. The velocity was there the whole time and I was able to repeat things the right way.''
Dickey's bases-loaded groundout in the fourth broke a 3-3 tie. Inciarte's bloop single up the middle drove in two runs.
The Mets got infield hits from Juan Lagares and Michael Conforto when reviews overturned out calls at first base. Conforto's ruling left the bases loaded, setting up the two-out grand slam by Bruce off Wisler.
Jim Johnson struck out Neil Walker for his fifth save.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: C Travis d'Arnaud left the game with a sore right wrist. ... 1B Lucas Duda (right elbow inflammation) hit off a tee but was not ready for live batting practice after having a setback over the weekend. ... LHP Steven Matz and RHP Seth Lugo, each on the DL with elbow injuries, had no discomfort in throwing sessions.
Braves: C Kurt Suzuki remained in the game after being hit in his ribs by Harvey's pitch in the fourth inning. ... RHP Mauricio Cabrera, on the 10-day DL with a right elbow strain, threw a scoreless inning, with one walk and one strikeout, for Triple-A Gwinnett.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Braves right fielder Nick Markakis charged toward the infield and made a diving catch of a sinking liner hit by d'Arnaud to end the fifth with runners on first and third.
HOME RUN DERBY
Bruce and Atlanta's Freddie Freeman hit two-run homers in the first. Freeman's 10th homer carried 422 feet into the second level of the right-field seats. Asdrubal Cabrera hit his third homer in the third for the Mets.
PINE TIME FOR GRANDY
Curtis Granderson, hitting only .126, was held out, and Lagares started in center field for the Mets. Manager Terry Collins said Granderson ''wanted to work on some things extensively'' and will start on Wednesday but sit out again on Thursday.
''We're entering May and we've got to get him started,'' Collins said.
UP NEXT
Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom, who earned a no-decision against Atlanta earlier this season, is 3-3 with a 1.71 ERA in nine career starts against the Braves.
Braves: RHP Bartolo Colon (1-2) will try to beat the Mets for the first time since a 7-2 win with the Yankees on July 2, 2011. Colon has a 5.59 ERA.
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