DENVER (Ticker) -- Dustan Mohr and Todd Greene came to the rescue of Chin-hui Tsao.

After Tsao gave up three runs in the top of the ninth inning, Mohr homered and Greene delivered a game-winning single in the bottom of the frame as the Colorado Rockies rallied for an improbable 6-5 triumph over the Atlanta Braves .

"One of the strengths of this ballclub is it has a lot of backbone," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "As demoralizing as that ninth was, we knew we had an opportunity to come back and win a ballgame. They're one of the elite teams in the league, there's no doubt about that."

Following Tsao's meltdown, the Rockies trailed, 5-4, entering the bottom of the ninth. Braves closer Dan Kolb (1-3), who had nine saves in 10 opportunities this season, retired leadoff batter Cory Sullivan but surrendered a tying homer to Mohr, just the right fielder's second of the season.

"One bad pitch that was supposed to go down and in, and I threw it down the middle," Kolb said. "He put a good swing on it. I think that ball goes out of any ballpark - doesn't matter if it is here or anywhere."

"Just trying to make contact," Mohr said. "On the first couple of pitches I was amped up. Somehow I found a way to relax and make contact. That just led up to me putting a nice easy swing on a ball he left up."

After rookie Clint Barmes and Aaron Miles singled, Kolb walked Todd Helton intentionally to load the bases. Chris Reitsma entered and struck out pinch hitter Preston Wilson , but Greene rapped a 2-1 offering up the middle to plate Barmes and end the wild contest.

"I know he has a good changeup, so I figured he might start me off with one because I usually don't get heaters the first pitch," Greene said. "So I wanted to get a look at it. I saw it and it's really good. I was sitting on a changeup 2-1 and was still out in front a little bit. It was smart hitting, not necessarily good hitting."

"I thought Chris was going to get out of it when he got Wilson out," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "But Greene, that was the fourth ball of the day he hit for a line drive, right on the button."

Greene, the Rockies' backup catcher, finished the game with three hits and three RBI.

"He's been swinging the bat better against righthanded pitchers," Hurdle said. "That's one of the best pitchers in the league. He's firm with everything."

The game was tied, 2-2, when Helton doubled against Braves starter John Smoltz with one out in the eighth. Brad Hawpe followed with a triple and Greene a single, both to center field, to give Colorado a 4-2 cushion.

"This is not a fun place, regardless of how good you feel," Smoltz said. "It was one of those games that was ended up being too good to be true. I was dejected in the eighth giving up those runs. Helton is what he is, he is that good a hitter. He reached down and got one down the line."

However, Rockies closer Tsao (1-0) could not seal the victory. On his first offering of the ninth, he surrendered Ryan Langerhans ' second homer of the game, a shot down the right field line. The Taiwanese righthander retired the next two batters and got ahead of Rafael Furcal , 1-2, before the shortstop hit a broken-bat single to center, and Marcus Giles doubled off the wall in right to tie the game.

After Chipper Jones was walked intentionally, 46-year-old Julio Franco singled to right field to plate Giles and put Smoltz in position to record his fourth straight win.

"We were down two and rallied," Smoltz said. "That's the old Rockies stadium coming back. That's the games we are used to playing and unfortunately we got the bad end of it."

Smoltz had one of the best starts by an opposing pitcher at Coors Field this season. The righthander went eight innings - the most by a road pitcher here in 2005 - allowing just three earned runs. On a rainy afternoon, Smoltz threw 111 pitches, 74 for strikes.

Byung-Hyun Kim allowed one run and three hits in five innings in his first start with the Rockies. He struck out five but walked four in his first start since May 10, 2004, for the Boston Red Sox .

The Rockies, who claimed their second series victory of the season, have won three of their last four games after dropping 10 in a row.