NEW YORK - Sure, Julio Teheran had perfected his home run celebration - plenty of times, while clowning with fellow Atlanta Braves pitchers during batting practice.
He just never got to trot it out.
Teheran hit the first homer of his MLB career to begin Atlanta's comeback Sunday afternoon at Citi Field, and Nick Markakis homered in the 10th inning to send the Braves over the New York Mets, 5-4.
Long a Mets nemesis on the mound, Teheran found a new way to torment them. He stepped up in the fifth inning as a career .153 hitter, clubbed a high fastball over the left-field wall, then took a leisurely jog.
"You don't know when you're going to hit one," he said. "It's a homer; you enjoy it."
Now in his eighth season in the majors, the two-time All-Star said his previous home run came in high school. He hadn't done much in the way of excitement at the plate since then.
"I didn't feel like running the bases," he kidded.
He got the ball, too - a nice souvenir on an afternoon when a lot of Atlanta players contributed.
Markakis finished with four hits and took over the National League lead from teammate Freddie Freeman. Ender Inciarte also homered, and Ronald Acuna Jr. delivered a key single as the Braves posted their sixth victory in seven games.
The NL East contenders took three of four in New York as they won a road series for the first time in more than a month.
Teheran continued to have control trouble, though, and walked four in 5 2/3 innings. His solo homer off rookie Corey Oswalt came with Atlanta trailing 3-0.
"He kept us in the game. He got us back in the game," Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Devin Mesoraco hit a tying home run in the bottom of the ninth - he was standing at second base when a replay review showed the ball cleared the wall, making it 4-all.
"I couldn't quite tell the first view," Mesoraco said. "But then the second one, I knew it was."
A.J. Minter (4-2), who had been 8-for-8 in save chances this year, got the win despite giving up Mesoraco's solo drive with one out.
Braves rookie Jesse Biddle worked around Wilmer Flores's leadoff double in the 10th for his first MLB save. Jose Bautista and Todd Frazier grounded out with Flores on third, ending the game.
New York rookie Tyler Bashlor (0-1) was tagged for Markakis's 13th homer of the season with one out in the 10th. The Mets have lost five of their past six games, and they fell to 4-12 against Atlanta this season.
Acuna hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth that put Atlanta ahead 4-3.
The Braves pulled off an unusual double play to stay close in the sixth. The Mets led 3-1 when Flores opened with a single and went to third on Michael Conforto's single. Bautista hit a hard grounder to third baseman Johan Camargo, who got a quick forceout. Second baseman Ozzie Albies alertly saw Flores breaking for the plate and threw him out.
Recently acquired Austin Jackson hit his second homer in eight games for the Mets.
Bautista went 0-for-5, striking out three times as his slump stretched to 0-for-23, hitting into that odd double play and stranding the tying run at third in the 10th. He's batting .198 overall this year. He played 12 games for Atlanta in May and helped Teheran earn a win with a three-run homer at Wrigley Field.
"He's been chasing a little bit more, the balls in the dirt. The good breaking balls, he seems to not recognize it as well at this moment," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "And the walks just aren't coming for him. So just a few things, he's kind of off kilter."