By ANTONIO GONZALEZ
Associated Press Writer

MIAMI(AP) -- The Florida Marlins have some fight left in them
after all, maybe even the kind to get back in the playoff race.

Hanley Ramirez hit a tying, pinch-hit single and scored the
go-ahead run in his first game since teammate Dan Uggla publicly
challenged his effort, lifting the Florida Marlins over the
Atlanta Braves 8-3 Thursday night.

"He came out in the afternoon and he tested it and hit in the
cages and said, 'I'm good to pinch hit,"' Marlins manager Fredi
Gonzalez said. "And did he."

Ramirez emerged in the clubhouse afterward, a towel draped
around his waist and wearing a yellow jersey T-shirt of former
teammate and current Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera. He then
headed back to the training room, and a Marlins spokesman said
Ramirez would not be speaking to reporters.

Ramirez's single in the sixth off Kris Medlen (3-5) made it
3-all. The NL batting leader easily made it to second when right
fielder Matt Diaz let the ball skip by him for an error, then
scored on Cody Ross' double to highlight a six-run inning.

"I don't know how severe his injury was, but I know he's their
guy. He can hit, and why wouldn't they want to give him a chance
to get the winning run across?" Medlen said.

Ramirez had said a day earlier that he "got some people upset"
for leaving Tuesday's game with a tight left hamstring. Uggla
overheard him and openly argued with the All-Star shortstop in
the clubhouse.

Uggla accused him of a lack of desire and effort to win and went
as far as saying Ramirez didn't care because he's already
secured a $70 million, six-year contract.

Gonzalez said Ramirez will be evaluated before the team's game
at Washington on Friday before deciding if he will start.

The Marlins salvaged a split of the four-game series. They moved
into a tie with Atlanta for third in the wild-card race, four
games behind Colorado.

"It was a good series," said Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco
(10-8), who gave up three runs in six innings. "We didn't get
off to a good start, but at least to salvage the last two and
pick this up and put some pressure on them was big."

Whether the dustup and ensuing closed-door meeting ignited the
Marlins, one thing's for sure: They needed Ramirez's bat in the
lineup.

His one-out single ended an 0-for-14 slump and sparked a Marlins
lineup that had been struggling for most of the last week,
pushing themselves out of the playoff picture.

Chris Coghlan, Nick Johnson and Jorge Cantu all followed with
RBI singles in the inning. Only two runs were earned in the
sixth, with Braves third baseman Chipper Jones dropping a foul
ball earlier in Coghlan's at-bat to go along with Diaz's
misplay.

The Braves tried to show a little fight themselves.

Atlanta manager Bobby Cox was ejected for the sixth time this
season to extend his major league record to 149. This one
occurred in the eighth for what appeared to be arguing balls and
strikes with Atlanta's Garret Anderson at the plate.

"I think, honestly, I could umpire - just call everything a ball
except for pitches right down the middle," said Cox, who called
home plate ump Jim Wolf a good umpire.

The rest of Cox's team just didn't do much.

Brian McCann hit his 18th home run of the season in the second
to put Atlanta ahead 1-0. Florida tied it on a double by Cameron
Maybin in the third, then Martin Prado and Jones each had RBI
singles in the fifth to give the Braves a 3-1 lead.

NOTES: Coghlan was picked for NL rookie of the month honors. He
had a major league-best 47 hits in 28 games during August while
batting .385. ... Braves OF Nate McLouth (strained left
hamstring) was scheduled to play with Single-A Rome on Thursday
night. He will likely be activated for the weekend series
against Cincinnati. ... Marlins LHP Andrew Miller, who struggled
in last few starts in the majors in mid-August and was sent to
the minors, will likely rejoin the sometime during its weekend
series in Washington, manager Fredi Gonzalez said.