Davis Hears Boos, Then Drives In the Go-Ahead Run Ike Davis, who knocked in a run with a double earlier in the inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly to cap the Mets" three-run sixth. On so many occasions this season, Ike Davis has seen a curveball twirling invitingly to the plate and thrown his body and arms and bat forward, only to miss the ball completely. So common did this sight become that Davis was banished for a spell to the minors, plunging his future into doubt. The doubt around Davis will linger until he begins to produce runs regularly. But game-changing moments, like the one he provided Tuesday night, could be an encouraging start. In the sixth inning of a tense, deadlocked game, Davis stepped to the plate with one out and runners on the corners and picked up two quick strikes. Such situations have been perilous this season for Davis, but this time he prospered. He watched a curveball loop toward the plate, and he ripped it to right field for a run-scoring double. The Mets, who kept dodging trouble through the early innings, seized the momentum from that point on, surging to a 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. "It definitely felt great to get a hit off a curveball and to get the winning run across the plate and to drive a ball," Davis said after the game. I haven't driven a ball in a while. Before the game, Manager Terry Collins expressed some worry that his starter, Carlos Torres, would be rusty since he had not pitched since July 13. Collins proved prescient. On his second pitch, Torres gave up a home run to Andrelton Simmons, the Braves" leadoff hitter, to put his team in an early hole. And he kept wandering into trouble. The Braves got at least one runner into scoring position each inning he pitched except the fifth, and still, somehow, he skirted damage every time. "I really wasn't that sharp at all today," said Torres, who gave up seven hits but did not allow another run in six innings. I got a ton of help from the defense and a couple of lucky breaks. Torres after the game rued his inefficiency and noted that he should pitch more like Kris Medlen, the Braves" starter, who changed speeds and baffled the Mets" hitters early on. In the second inning, Davis tried to bunt to beat an infield shift. But he ended up rolling the ball to Medlen for an easy out and heard loud boos from the crowd. Collins said he did not necessarily object to Davis doing that, but said he would never call for that play. Davis said he would like to try it more often. "I get out a lot anyway," Davis said, smiling, "so I might as well give it a try." But Davis would end up sparking the team through more conventional means. Torres helped tie the score in the third, rolling a run-scoring single between third base and shortstop. Three innings later, the Mets achieved a more considerable breakthrough. Daniel Murphy and David Wright singled to open the bottom of the sixth, and one out later, the Mets had runners on the corners. Davis followed and fell behind Medlen, 1-2. But when Medlen spun a curveball, Davis sat back and whipped a low, hard line drive to right field. Murphy scored as the ball caromed off the fence. John Buck's run-scoring single and Juan Lagares's sacrifice fly increased the lead to 4-1. It was an encouraging win for the Mets and a positive step for Davis. He returned from his banishment at Class AAA on July 5 and experienced some early problems. From July 5 to July 21, he was 7 for 31 with no extra-base hits. But he had a single and a double in the Mets" loss Monday before getting his key double Tuesday. For Davis, small things - like punishing a pitcher for throwing a hittable curveball - will continue to be big steps until he further proves himself. "These are all confidence-building things," Collins said. The more confidence he gets, the more dangerous he becomes. The Mets announced that they had placed the right-hander Shaun Marcum on waivers for an unconditional release, ending his short and fraught tenure at the club. Marcum was placed on the disabled list July 9 and underwent surgery earlier this month for thoracic outlet syndrome, a circulatory condition that can cause numbness around one's hands. Marcum, 31, signed a one-year contract this winter worth $4 million, plus incentives. His health problems began during spring training, and he produced a 1-10 record and 5.29 earned run average before undergoing the season-ending procedure. ... The right-hander Jenrry Mejia will join the Mets to make a spot start Friday against the Washington Nationals. The teams will play a doubleheader at Nationals Park, and Mejia will start the first game before Matt Harvey takes the ball for the second. Terry Collins said the right-hander Zack Wheeler, who developed a blister on his finger in his last start, would be fine to pitch Thursday, as scheduled.