Kawakami (6-9) outpitched Johan Santana, allowing the Braves to keep pace with Colorado in the National League wild-card race. Atlanta trails the Rockies by four games.
In his six previous starts, Kawakami had gone 0-3 with three no-decisions. He limited the Mets to a run on seven hits while striking out five.
Rafael Soriano allowed a two-out single in the ninth before nailing down his 18th save.
Ryan Church drove in Atlanta's first run with a third-inning double and he scored later in the frame on a sacrifice fly by Omar Infante. Brian McCann added a solo homer in the fourth to give Atlanta a 3-1 advantage.
Santana (13-9) gave up all three runs on nine hits in seven innings. He is 2-2 in his last six starts.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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