NEW YORK -- A bullpen melted down again Saturday during a game involving the Atlanta Braves. But this time, the Braves were the beneficiaries instead of the instigators.

Center fielder Cameron Maybin's two-run single in the top of the 11th inning snapped a tie and lifted the Braves to a come-from-behind 5-3 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field.

The win might not have been possible if not for the impressive work of the Braves' beleaguered bullpen, which entered Saturday with the third-worst ERA in baseball (4.65) as well as five blown saves and five losses this month.

But four Braves relievers -- right-hander Nick Masset, left-hander Luis Avilan, right-hander Jim Johnson and the winning pitcher, right-hander Jason Grilli (2-2) -- combined to retire 11 in a row after the Mets took a 3-1 lead in the seventh.

cIt was awesome, man," said shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who began the 11th inning with a single. "They used everybody, right?"

Pretty much: The Braves had to use right-hander Williams Perez, their scheduled starter for Monday's game against the Boston Red Sox, as the closer in the bottom of the eleventh.

"Eleven innings," Simmons said. "Hats off to them."

The Mets, who entered Saturday 30-0 when leading after eight, don't usually have Braves-esque problems in the late innings. But New York closer Jeurys Familia was unavailable after throwing 25 pitches in closing out a 5-3 win Friday night before heading to the hospital to be with his newborn son.

On Saturday, the Braves tied the game with four singles, including back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Maybin and first baseman Freddie Freeman, against right-hander Hansel Robles and left-hander Alex Torres.

"You saw today, it's real hard (without Familia)," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Trying to piece together matchups."

Right-hander Carlos Torres (2-3) threw a perfect 10th before giving up singles to Simmons (his fourth hit, tying a career high) and third baseman Juan Uribe to start the 11th. The runners moved up a base on a sacrifice by second baseman Jace Peterson, after which Maybin singled sharply to center for his third hit since the eighth inning.

"Our bullpen did a great job of keeping us in the game," Maybin said. "Fun to get a win in the column."

The late hits also provided a bit of a redemption for Maybin, whose bobble of Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud's game-tying RBI single in the seventh against right-handed starter Shelby Miller allowed the go-ahead run to score.

In the eighth, Maybin doubled and stole third before he was thrown out at home trying to score on a fly to shallow left.

"Luckily we still had a chance to be in the game," Maybin said. "Just a big win for us."

The Mets opened the bottom of the 11th with singles by center fielder Darrell Ceciliani and second baseman Dilson Herrera before Perez got pinch-hitter John Mayberry to line into a double play and induced center fielder Juan Lagares to hit into a fielder's choice grounder to close out his first big league save and second as a professional.

"Using Williams there to get the save -- good for him," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, who said right-handers David Aardsma and Brandon Cunniff weren't available due to their recent workloads. "We didn't know how he was going to react, but we had no other option but to go to him. He did a nice job."

Freeman hit a solo homer in the first for the Braves (30-32), who moved within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Mets (33-30) in the National League East.

Miller allowed three runs on a season-high eight hits and two walks while striking out four over 6 1/3 innings. His ERA rose from 1.84 to 2.02.

The Braves' ninth-inning rally cost Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom the win. DeGrom allowed one run on five hits and one walk while striking out nine in seven innings. In his l