It’s rare when a baseball player can say that a game comes full circle on his own watch.

Thursday afternoon was one of those times.

Willie Harris saved at least one run with a leaping grab in the first inning and stymied a Mets rally in the bottom of the ninth, robbing Carlos Delgado of a game-tying home run as Atlanta held on for a 7-6 win to take their fourth straight series over New York.

The Braves still trail the division-leading Mets by 3 1/2 games, but they are an impressive 8-4 against their rivals this season, winning the rubber-game in all four series.

Trailing 7-3 entering the ninth, New York mounted a comeback against ex-Met Tyler Yates. Ruben Gotay got things started, smacking a pinch-hit single before racing to third on Jose Reyes’ double to right.

A high chopper to second by Luis Castillo brought home the inning’s first run and David Wright, who had just one hit in his last 30 at-bats against the Braves coming in, clubbed his 20th home run over the left-center field wall, cutting the lead to 7-6.

Atlanta skipper Bobby Cox replaced Yates with Oscar Villarreal, who fell behind Delgado (1-for-4, RBI) 1-0 before grooving a fastball that the slugger smashed towards left-center. Harris, already playing deep to cut off a potential extra-base hit, raced towards the wall, leapt and snared the potential tying homer.

With the Mets, Shea Stadium and the Braves still in shock over the astounding grab, Moises Alou grounded out to short, ending the game and what might have been a second thrilling comeback in less than 24 hours by New York.

Atlanta trailed 2-0 heading into the fourth but cut the lead in half on sacrifice fly by Andruw Jones before exploding for four runs off John Maine in the fifth.

Tim Hudson hit a broken-bat single over third and Harris walked. After Kelly Johnson grounded into a fielder’s choice that forced the runner at second, Chipper Jones crushed a 2-1 fastball halfway up the scoreboard in right for his 19th homer and a 4-2 Atlanta lead.

Jones (1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI) has now homered 38 times in his career against the Mets, his most against any single opponent.

Mark Teixeira followed with his fourth home run in eight games since joining the Braves and his 17th overall.

Delgado’s RBI single cut the lead to 5-3 off a laboring Hudson (13-5), but Ramon Castro popped out with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Maine (12-7) took the mound in the sixth but was unable to hold Atlanta at bay.

Yunel Escobar singled with one out, stole second and took third on Castro’s throwing error. Hudson (1-for-2, RBI) laid down a perfect safety squeeze with two strikes, plating Escobar for a 6-3 lead.

Maine was lifted after allowing six runs on seven hits and three walks with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander has surrendered 12 runs and 11 hits in just 8 1/3 frames over his last two starts (0-2) and is 2-3 with a 6.46 ERA since the All-Star break.

Hudson breezed through the sixth, finishing his afternoon having allowed three runs on nine hits and a walk with three strikeouts. The veteran hurler won his seventh straight decision and improved to 93-1 in his career when handed a three-run lead.

Teixeira (2-for-5, HR) scored on a double play groundout by Jeff Francoeur in the seventh to give Atlanta a 7-3 lead, a run that would prove critical two innings later.

Ron Mahay and Peter Moylan hurled a scoreless inning apiece for the Braves before New York rallied off Yates for three runs in just 1/3 of an inning in the ninth.

The save for Villarreal was the first of his professional career.

The Mets jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and third innings and had Hudson on the ropes several times in the early going.

Reyes (3-for-5, 2B) reached on an infield single to start the game and was sacrificed to second. Moving on the pitch, he was able to score when Wright (3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) poked a grounder between third and short.

New York added to their lead in the third when Alou (2-for-5, RBI) singled home Castillo.

Shawn Green went 0-for-3 to snap his nine-game hitting streak and Marlon Anderson, who started the game in center field, was removed following the top of the fourth after spraining his wrist trying to nab a fly ball by Brian McCann.

After building momentum with their victory on Wednesday, the Mets (64-50) saw it slam shut in Willie Harris’ glove in the bottom of the ninth on Thursday. With the Braves out of the picture until the end of the month, the Marlins invade Shea for a weekend set beginning on Friday night. Brian Lawrence (1-0, 5.40) will make his second start for New York, eight days after winning his debut against the Milwaukee Brewers. The right-hander surrendered three runs and eight hits over five innings and was the beneficiary of 12 runs of support. Lawrence is 2-1 with a 4.54 ERA in six career starts against Florida.

The Marlins (53-62) avoided a three-game sweep by the Phillies on Thursday night before heading up the New Jersey Turnpike to New York. Daniel Barone (NR) will make his big league debut on Friday after going 8-3 with a 3.96 ERA in 23 starts for Double-A Carolina and Triple-A Albuquerque.

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