NEW YORK – Jair Jurrjens walked three consecutive batters with the bases loaded in the third inning, then got his first major league hit ahead of Kelly Johnson’s tiebreaking, two-run homer to help the Atlanta Braves beat the struggling New York Mets 6-3 Friday night.

Johnson had four RBIs for the Braves, who sent the Mets to their fifth loss in six games following a five-game winning streak. Jurrjens (3-2) recovered from his wild stretch – he didn’t allow another batter to reach and retired his final 10 batters – combining with four relievers on a two-hitter.

Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox was smoking was ejected for the 136th time, extending his major league record.

Mike Pelfrey (2-1) gave up five runs, nine hits and four walks in 5 1-3 innings.

Phillies 6, Pirates 5

PITTSBURGH – Chris Coste had three hits and three RBIs, and the Phillies’ bullpen pitched more than five innings of effective relief in Philadelphia’s win over Pittsburgh.

Jayson Werth hit his fourth home run in five games and had two RBIs for Philadelphia, which has won five of six games.

Tom Gordon (2-2) pitched one inning of relief to pick up the win. Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save in six chances. He has pitched 11 innings without allowing a run.

Xavier Nady had two hits and three RBIs, Ryan Doumit added two hits, and Jason Bay homered for the Pirates, who have lost eight of 10.

The Phillies, whose last three wins were thanks to late-inning rallies, jumped out to a six-run lead against Zach Duke (0-2).

Nationals 5, Cubs 3

WASHINGTON – Wil Nieves hit first major league homer, a two-run shot in the ninth inning, to give Washington the win over Chicago.

Nieves drove an 0-2 pitch from Chicago’s Bob Howry (0-2) into the Washington bullpen in right field for the Nationals’ second straight win after dropping 16 of 19 games.

Jon Rauch (2-0), Washington’s fifth pitcher of the evening, worked a perfect ninth.

Chicago, the NL Central leaders, had won six of its previous seven.

Nick Johnson hit a two-run home run off Ryan Dempster into the second deck in right field in the first inning. It was the first home run to reach the second deck of Nationals Park since it opened this season.