NEW YORK -- Atlanta Braves interim manager Brian Snitker is one of the few people in the organization who can remember when the Braves and New York Mets annually engaged in tense September games with playoff implications.

Now the rest of the Braves are learning what it's like to torment the Mets at the most pivotal time of the year.

Right-hander Julio Teheran continued his mastery of the Mets on Tuesday night, when he threw seven innings of one-run ball before the Braves held off a furious New York comeback to escape with a 5-4 win at Citi Field.

The rebuilding Braves (60-91) have played spoiler -- and evoked memories of the late 1990s and early 2000s -- by winning the first two games of the three-game series against the National League wild card-leading Mets (80-71), who entered Tuesday with a one-game lead over the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.

"I'm just proud and happy (about) the way the guys are playing," said Snitker, who spent 11 seasons on the Braves' coaching staff and another 20 years as a minor league manager in the chain before replacing Fredi Gonzalez May 17.

"We're not playing like our record. We're playing like we're fighting for a division and a wild card."

In the process, the Braves might be imperiling the Mets' wild card push. New York was 5 1/2 games out of the second wild card on Aug. 19 before going 20-7 through Sept. 18.

"I know where the Braves sit -- they had a terrible first half -- they've got a pretty nice lineup right now," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "They're scoring runs, so we knew we were going to be in a dogfight, especially with Teheran."

Teheran (6-10) allowed just five hits and one walk while striking out one as his ERA against the Mets this season actually rose from 0.78 to 0.90. He is 7-3 with a 2.36 ERA in 15 career games (14 starts) against New York.

Teheran exited with a 5-1 lead after retiring 15 of the final 16 batters he faced following Asdrubal Cabrera's RBI double in the third. The Mets gave the crowd of 30,761 a jolt in the eighth, when Curtis Granderson hit an RBI double, T.J. Rivera lofted a sacrifice fly and pinch-hitter Eric Campbell delivered a run-scoring single.

But left-hander Ian Krol retired Travis d'Arnaud on a ground out to strand runners at corners in the eighth. In the ninth, Cabrera singled with two outs to bring up Yoenis Cespedes stepped as the potential winning run, but Jim Johnson struck him out to notch his 16th save.

"They're on the edge of trying to do something really good," Snitker said of the Mets. "There's a lot of energy here. A great place to come play. It's a good ballclub, so you like playing in that atmosphere."

Now, what appeared to be an easy path to a potential home wild card game could get treacherous for the Mets, whose final 16 games are against teams that were under .500 as of Sept. 15. New York has scored four or fewer runs in eight straight games.

"I think it's going to go down to the wire," Collins said.

Matt Kemp had an RBI single in the sixth while Nick Markakis drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Braves the lead for good. Adonis Garcia hit a three-run homer in the seventh for Atlanta, which is 10-8 in September after failing to record a winning record in any previous month.

"We're playing really good, we've got everything working right now," Teheran said, "We're trying to take it (into) next year."

Freddie Freeman went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk as he reached base safely for the 40th straight game and extended his hitting streak to 24 games. Kemp extended his hitting streak to 12 games, though Markakis' 11-game streak came to an end with an 0-for-3 night.

Cabrera reached base in all five plate appearances, via three hits and two walks, and also stole a base for the Mets.

Rookie right-hander Robert Gsellman (2-2) carried a shutout into the sixth but took the loss after allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six over 5 1/3 innings.

NOTES: Mets RHP Jacob deGrom, who hasn't pitched since Sept. 1, will undergo surgery soon to move the ulnar nerve in his right arm. The nerve has been creating numbness and elbow pain for several weeks for deGrom, who allowed 16 runs over 14 1/3 innings in his final three starts. ... Mets INF Wilmer Flores (right wrist) received another cortisone shot on Monday and could be available later this week. Flores has not played since Sept. 10. ... Braves RHP Mike Foltynewicz (calf) ran and played catch Tuesday. Interim manager Brian Snitker hopes Foltynewicz, who hasn't pitched since he was hit by a comebacker on Sept. 12, can return before the end of the season. ... The last time the Braves failed to record a winning record over any full month was in 1990, a season they concluded by going 2-1 in October.