For the better part of eight innings Saturday, the Braves played more like the team with the worst record in the majors than the Seattle Mariners did, struggling to find a way to win without Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar in the lineup.

That all changed in the eighth, when Gregor Blanco reached on a three-base error by Yuniesky Betancourt to open the door for four runs in the final two innings of a 5-4 comeback victory.

Jason Getz / AJC (ENLARGE)

Brian McCann connects for the game-winning hit in the ninth, a single to shallow right field with the bases loaded.

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Blanco reached third base when Betancourt tried to bare hand a two-hopper and throw him out at first base, missing wide. Jones singled him in on a first-pitch off Arthur Rhodes to complete a two-run eighth, which was followed by a two-run ninth.

Former Mariner Greg Norton drove in the tying run when he doubled to the gap, and he scored the winning run on Brian McCann's broken-bat single with the infield drawn in.

The Braves won for the first time in 30 games this season when trailing after eight innings, and they did it in front of their largest crowd of the season — 47,158, a sell-out.

"We were due," said McCann, who came to the plate after Miguel Batista intentionally walked Mark Teixeira and hit Jeff Francoeur.

"If we want to play in the postseason, we're going to have to start doing the little things to win ball games early in the game and toward the middle and not just wait until the later part of the game. But we battled. And Norton got the big hit."

The self-effacing Norton, who was hitting .182 entering the game, doubled twice in five at-bats but was kicking himself for a first-inning strikeout with runners at second and third.

"I was glad I was able to make up for it later," said Norton, who was asked if he was thinking about making up for it against the team that got rid of him in May.

"Maybe I was because I seemed to be swinging at every pitch over my head for two out of the first three at-bats, thinking I could hit it.

"It wasn't any added energy. I'm a pretty low-key guy. I was telling Chipper I didn't even know that tied the game. I thought we were still down by one. They all said I should have been on third. That's a scary thought, me getting a triple."

Manager Bobby Cox batted Norton in the No. 3 hole with Jones out again with a strained quadriceps. The moved surprised even Norton but also gave him some confidence.

"It's something where you want to do well," said Norton, who could take it no further without joking. "I told Chipper after the game, hurry up and get healthy because I don't want to hit in the 3 hole anymore."

Without Jones and Escobar (hip flexor) in the starting lineup Saturday night, the Braves looked discombobulated at the plate and in the field. The Braves stranded 13 runners and were 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position. And two first-inning errors by Escobar's replacement Omar Infante led to three unearned runs in the first inning off Jair Jurrjens.

Infante, the super utility player, has played five different positions for the Braves and done it well. But he bobbled two groundballs that each extended the inning, setting up a sacrifice fly by Jeremy Reed and a two-run single by Betancourt.

Infante redeemed himself with three hits, including a near-home run that went foul in the second inning. He went 3-for-5 with a double.

"He hasn't played shortstop too much," Blanco said. "Escobar knows the little things like in this spot the ball bounces, in this spot, the ball stays down. He had a couple tough plays, but then he figured it out."