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NEW YORK -- Not a bad way to bust out of a slump. Ike Davis finally snapped his prolonged funk at the plate with a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, and the New York Mets rallied past the Atlanta Braves 4-2 on Sunday night to end an eight-game losing streak at home. Before the game, Davis had a meeting with manager Terry Collins and GM Sandy Alderson, who also spoke to reporters and addressed weeks of speculation about whether the first baseman should be demoted to the minors. Alderson said there was no deadline for such a decision, and hours later Davis delivered his biggest hit of an agonizing season. "They wanted me to have fun again. Smile more, laugh on the field. I know that the fans may hate that, but I wont perform any better by being miserable," Davis said. "And I am now 1 for 1 with the new approach. The meeting today helped." Shaun Marcum struck out a career-high 12 and Lucas Duda homered for the Mets, who stopped Atlantas eight-game winning streak and avoided a three-game sweep. The Braves had won 15 of 18 against New York and five in a row at Citi Field. Pinch-hitter Justin Turner led off the eighth with a single against Cory Gearrin (1-1). David Wright struck out but Duda punched a ground-rule double to left for his third hit, and John Bucks run-scoring single tied it at 2. Pinch-hitter Mike Baxter was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Davis. "The first thing I thought of was, get a hit," Collins said. "I said to the baseball gods that this kid needs a base hit." He got one, pulling a two-run single through the right side for a 4-2 Mets lead. "I went up wanting a sacrifice fly and not to ground into a double play," Davis said. "Hes a nasty pitcher with sinking movement and I wanted to stay through and hit right through the sinker." After the game, the affable Davis cracked a smile when he found a crowd of reporters waiting at his locker. "Im popular," he said, with more than a touch of New York sarcasm. "Greeaaaat." Davis began the night batting .148 with nine RBIs. He finished 2 for 3 with a walk after entering in a 2-for-44 slide that included 19 strikeouts. It was his first hit in his last 27 at-bats with runners in scoring position. "Just a sinker. He got under it enough and got it out there," Gearrin said. "Youve got to tip your hat a little bit to those guys. They put the bat on the ball and made something happen." LaTroy Hawkins (1-0) worked a scoreless inning and Bobby Parnell struck out two in the ninth for his seventh save. It was a spirited and heartening win for the Mets heading into their Subway Series against the crosstown-rival New York Yankees beginning Monday night. Marcum, still winless with the Mets, went seven innings for his longest outing in six starts with New York. His only costly mistake came on Dan Ugglas two-run homer in the seventh that put Atlanta ahead 2-1. Duda hit a leadoff shot to right off Julio Teheran in the fourth, giving him nine home runs and 16 RBIs this season. It also extended his career-best hitting streak to 10 games. Marcum allowed a leadoff single in the first to Andrelton Simmons, quickly erased on a hard-hit double play, and didnt permit another hit until the sixth. The only baserunner the Braves managed during that stretch came when Uggla was hit by a pitch in the second. After that, Marcum retired 13 straight batters before Simmons reached down and floated a flare over shortstop with two outs in the sixth. Hustling all the way out of the box, Simmons legged it out for a double. He was stranded when Jason Heyward took a called third strike. Relying on an effective slider and changeup to go with his 85 mph fastball, Marcum cooled off the Atlanta bats with finesse. He struck out slumping B.J. Upton looking to end the seventh, surpassing his previous career high of 11 strikeouts set on June 16, 2007, with Toronto against Washington. It was the right-handers fourth career double-digit strikeout game and first since July 20, 2010, with Toronto against Cleveland. "You dont have to light up the radar gun to be successful," Uggla said. "Marcum really knows how to pitch -- every aspect of the word pitching. Hes very patient. He knows his strengths, knows his weaknesses, and he had just unbelievable command. Not just his fastball, but of everything. He knows what he wants to do with every pitch. So he was good tonight, man. He really kept us off balance." Freddie Freeman fanned all four times up for the Braves, who lead the NL by a wide margin with 448 strikeouts. Upton and Heyward each whiffed three times. NOTES: Braves RHP Jordan Walden (shoulder inflammation) threw a bullpen before the game and was expected to start a rehab assignment Monday with Triple-A Gwinnett. ... Mets reliever Scott Atchison (right elbow inflammation) could be ready to come off the disabled list after one more minor league rehab outing, Collins said. Atchison is eligible to return Wednesday. ... The Mets play the AL East-leading Yankees four straight times beginning Monday night, with the first two games at Citi Field and the next two in the Bronx. LHP Jonathon Niese (3-5, 4.80) starts the opener for the Mets against RHP Phil Hughes (2-3, 5.51). ... The Mets donated more than 5,000 tickets to the USO for Military Appreciation Night. Representatives from each branch of the military threw out a first pitch. Nike Shoes Australia Sale . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Nike Shoes Australia Cheap . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. http://www.nikeshoesaustraliacheap.com/ . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Nike Shoes Australia Online . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. Wholesale Nike Shoes Australia .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing. AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Matt Kenseth stood by his car and tried to remain calm after he saw a potential victory and Chase for the Sprint Cup championship berth vanish in a wreck in NASCAR overtime Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.Kenseth was leading and in control of the Can-Am 500 when the caution came out for a Michael McDowell wreck with less than two laps remaining.On the ensuing restart, he tried to cut in front of Alex Bowman and ended up crashed.Is there anything I can do or say right now to make it better? Kenseth said. The only thing I can really do or say right now is make things worse. Im really trying not to do that.But it was pretty clear that it was a devastating night for Kenseth, who won a championship in 2003 and still seeks another in a career that likely has only a few more years left.Disappointed would put it lightly, Kenseth said. It finished our season. Five minutes before that, it looked like we were going to have a chance to go race for a championship.Kenseths spotter, Chris Crazy Osborne, took the blame for the accident, saying he had cleared Kenseth to the inside.Its a team effort, Kenseth said. We win as a team; we lose as a team. I cant blame Chris. I didnt really see what happened. He said I was clear, so I started looking toward the corner. I got turned around.Things happen in a hurry. I dont know if Alex just drove in there in front of me or I wasnt clear.Bowman was apologetic but didnt think he did much wrong. Kyle Busch was critical, saying that Bowman chopped down on him, so he tagged Bowman, who then was in position to be inside Kenseth when Kenseth thought he was clear.There is not really anything I can do when the spotter clears you and Im inside of you, Bowman said. I hate that it happened. Its very disappointing. I never would intentionally do that. I was just running my line and got turned sideways by the 18 [of Kyle Busch] and the next thing I know the 20 [of Kenseth] is driving across my nose.Its unfortunate. I dont think many people will be that hung up on it. If people were going to be that hung up on it, hed be down here screaming at me now.Kenseth wasnt screaming much. He was devastated.It probably hurts more in a way, but what are you going to do? Kenseth said. You dont know how many chances you are going to have [to win another championship]. We had a really good car and a really good chance.Xfinity Series: A close call with lug nutsElliott Sadler advanced to the championship but will be without his crew chief after NASCAR officials found two loose lug nuts after the race at Phoenix.The penalty for having them loose is a $10,000 fine and a one-race crew chief suspension. Sadler crew chief Kevin Meendering likely will be replaced by Ryan Pemberton.If three lug nuts were loose -- meaning with a lug not touching the wheel -- Sadler would have been docked 35 points and missed the cut. Both Sadler and Xfinity Series director Wayne Auton said there never was discussion of a third lug nut loose.Its going to be tough, man, Sadler said. No driver wants to go to Hoomestead with a chance of legitimately winning a championship and not have your right-hand man sidekick with you.ddddddddddddBut we still have a chance to go win it. We cant count ourselves out.Sadler now has a shot at the title along with Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones and Justin Allgaier.Jones leads the finalists with four wins this season; Sadler has three.Everybody is going to be on top of their game, and you just have to do what you can to have a fast car and be up there running with them and then put yourself in a position to a least have a chance at it, Jones said.Suarez, who has an average finish of 3.1 in the Chase, is optimistic.There are a lot of people that are going to start thinking about how cool it is going to be, Suarez said. I have to think about how Im going to make it happen. I have to do the work, and thats exactly what Im going to do.Allgaier doesnt have a win this year but still has a shot at the title.We all four have run together all [year] long, Allgaier said. Homestead is going to be no different.Advancing to the owners championship were the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team (Matt Tifft to drive at Homestead), Team Penske No. 22 (Ryan Blaney) and the Suarez and Sadler cars.Camping World Truck Series: Three veterans, one rookieWhile three veterans (Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Timothy Peters) and one rookie (Christopher Bell) advanced into the championship hunt, the driver with six wins this year -- rookie William Byron -- didnt advance as his engine blew while leading with 11 laps left at Phoenix.Byron will move from Kyle Busch Motorsports to join JR Motorsports next year as a Hendrick development driver.I would never take back the wins weve had, Byron said. Its gotten me to a new level, its gotten this team to a new level with confidence and performance.I would never trade those. Those were awesome moments for my team. I was hoping to share another one of those tonight, and it just didnt happen.Sauter, with two wins and a second-place finish in the semifinal round, has to feel like a favorite.Id like to think [were the ones to beat], he said. Anything can happen. ... Youre going to have to go down there and be aggressive and also be a little bit smart.Crafton has won two titles and seeks a third. Crafton: I dont think theres anybody that has an advantage, its whoever has the best truck and the best man will win that night.Peters is looking for his first title.Weve been lucky a lot of times and maybe finished some races that we probably shouldnt have, he said. Homestead is a pretty decent track for us, so [were] looking forward to going down there and seeing what weve got.Bell also is looking for his first title and got in thanks to Byrons engine failure.In the owners championship, it will be the Byron (the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 9 team made it in because the Red Horse Racing team of Peters didnt make the owners Chase), Sauter, Crafton and Bell trucks. ' ' '