MIAMI -- You knew it was going to be a long game when Josh Anderson led off Tuesday night for the Braves with his first career home run in 110 Major League at-bats.

After the second of a three-game series against the Marlins was over, Anderson's home run seemed like a very long time ago.

Atlanta and Florida combined to score 30 runs on 36 hits in a game that saw the lead switch hands six times with five ties along the way. But with the game knotted in the top of the ninth, the Braves picked up two runs, and the bullpen finally held on in the bottom half of the frame to give them a wild 16-14 victory to snap their four-game losing streak in front of 14,092 at Dolphin Stadium.

The last time the Braves won a game despite giving up 14 runs was July 23, 1951, against the Pirates, and the franchise was located in Boston.

On Tuesday, 28 position players and 15 pitchers were used. The 30 runs marked a season high for runs in a game between the Braves and their opponent. The previous high was on Opening Day, when Pittsburgh and Atlanta combined for 23.

"I don't even know where to start in a ballgame like that, except that there was a lot of great offense," manager Bobby Cox said. "If you're going to play those, you're better off being on the winning side."

With Matt Lindstrom on the hill and Martin Prado on second base, pinch-hitter Ruben Gotay -- activated from the disabled list on Monday -- hit a one-out RBI double to center field. Two batters later, Kelly Johnson followed with a single to the right side to give the Braves a two-run lead.

In the bottom half, Mike Gonzalez, the seventh reliever to take the mound for the Braves, pitched a 1-2-3 inning to end the three-hour, 44-minute contest, nailing down his 38th consecutive save opportunity -- the Majors' longest current streak.

"We had to keep battling, and we had to keep playing hard until your chance comes," Gotay said. "[Cox] came to me, and I got the job done."

Omar Infante and Kelly Johnson, hitting in the fifth and sixth spots in the lineup, respectively, combined to go 8-for-11 with three doubles, six RBIs and five runs scored. The top four hitters in the lineup -- Anderson, Martin Prado, Yunel Escobar and Brian McCann -- each had multihit games and combined to score seven runs.

Despite scoring 10 runs in the first four innings, the Braves got just 3 1/3 innings from starter Charlie Morton, and their bullpen gave up six runs in the next 1 2/3 innings to turn a seven-run lead into a three-run deficit. Atlanta responded once again with a four-run seventh, but again, the bullpen couldn't hold it.

After the Anderson homer, the Braves picked up five runs in the third off Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez, and four in the fourth off Mark Hendrickson. Going into the sixth, they found themselves down, 13-10, and got right back into it. After loading the bases to start the inning, Brandon Jones brought in two runs on a single to right field, and Greg Norton followed suit with a pinch-hit, two-run double to left field to give Atlanta its third lead of the game at 14-13.

After that, Julian Tavarez got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Braves' one-run lead intact, then pitched a shutout seventh.

In the eighth, Tuesday callup Jorge Julio gave up a walk and allowed the runner to advance on a wild pitch before John Baker singled to right field to tie the game. But after that, Julio was able to get out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam with two strikeouts to set up the winning ninth.

"Tavarez did a heck of a job, and of course Gonzalez, but I thought Jorge Julio threw the ball great," Cox said. "You never want to walk a guy in a one-run game to start the inning, but I was really impressed with the way he hung the ball in there."

Morton was never able to get going just five days after limiting the Marlins to two runs in six innings. After giving up three unearned runs in a first inning that saw him throw 22 pitches, Morton couldn't get out of the fourth. He started it off by giving up a double to Cody Ross and, after recording an out, walked two straight hitters and gave up a bases-clearing triple to Alfredo Amezaga to make it a 10-6 game.

"I didn't really have the same approach as I did last time," Morton said. "I was basically hanging on by a thread each inning, so I don't think that inning was that much of a difference. I just didn't get out of it."

That set the stage for a bullpen that posted a 6.13 ERA in August.

The first candidate was Buddy Carlyle, who gave up an RBI single to Mike Jacobs and a two-run homer to Dan Uggla right off the bat to cut the deficit to one after four. Then, after recent callup Jeff Ridgway gave up a single to the only batter he faced in the fifth, it was Blaine Boyer's turn. His outing went like this: single, single, passed ball, wild pitch, two-run single. And with that, the Marlins had a three-run lead.

But in a game like Tuesday's, no lead was safe.

"It was insane," said Johnson, who finished 4-for-5 with a team-high four RBIs. "You just go up there with the bat, and you were going to get a chance to get a hit tonight. I don't know what it was about this game, but it seems like once a year you get stuff like that -- it happens."