MIAMI — Hanley Ramirez hit a tying, pinch-hit single and scored the go-ahead run in his first game since teammate Dan Uggla publicly challenged his effort, lifting the Florida Marlins over the Atlanta Braves 8-3 Thursday night.
Hanley's single in the sixth off Kris Medlen (3-5) made it 3-all. The NL batting leader easily made it to second when right fielder Matt Diaz let the ball skip by him for an error, then scored on Cody Ross' double to highlight a six-run inning.
Ramirez had said a day earlier that he "got some people upset" for leaving Tuesday's game with a tight left hamstring. Uggla overheard him and openly argued with the All-Star shortstop in the clubhouse.
Uggla accused him of a lack of desire and effort to win and went as far as saying Ramirez didn't care because he's already secured a $70 million, six-year contract.
The Marlins salvaged a split of the four-game series. They moved into a tie with Atlanta for third in the wild-card race, four games behind Colorado.
Whether the dustup and ensuing closed-door meeting igniting the Marlins, one thing's for sure: They needed Ramirez's bat in the lineup.
His one-out single ended an 0-for-14 slump and sparked a Marlins lineup that had been struggling for most of the last week, pushing themselves out of the playoff picture.
Chris Coghlan, Nick Johnson and Jorge Cantu all followed with RBI singles in the inning. Only two runs were earned in the sixth, with Braves third baseman Chipper Jones dropping a foul ball earlier in Coghlan's at-bat to go along with Diaz's misplay.
Ricky Nolasco (10-8) gave up three runs in six innings.
The Braves tried to show a little fight themselves.
Atlanta manager Bobby Cox was ejected for the sixth time this season to extend his major league record to 149. This one occurred in the eighth for what appeared to be arguing balls and strikes with Atlanta's Garret Anderson at the plate.
The rest of his team just didn't do much.
Brian McCann hit his 18th home run of the season in the second to put Atlanta ahead 1-0. Florida tied it on a double by Cameron Maybin in the third, then Martin Prado and Jones each had RBI singles in the fifth to give the Braves a 3-1 lead.
NOTES: Coghlan was picked for NL rookie of the month honors. He had a major league-best 47 hits in 28 games during August while batting .385. ... Braves OF Nate McLouth (strained left hamstring) was scheduled to play with Single-A Rome on Thursday night. He will likely be activated for the weekend series against Cincinnati. ... Marlins LHP Andrew Miller, who struggled in last few starts in the majors in mid-August and was sent to the minors, will likely rejoin the sometime during its weekend series in Washington, manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
