Mets  0    Braves  6

Recap: Atlanta vs. NY Mets

Sports Network | September 16, 2009

Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Tommy Hanson hurled seven solid innings and Adam LaRoche was 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI, as the Braves downed the Mets, 6-0, to open a three-game series.

Hanson (10-3) struck out eight, walked three and scattered just three hits to record his eighth straight start allowing three earned runs or less. The rookie right-hander is 5-1 over that stretch and hasn't allowed a run in his last 15 innings with 15 strikeouts in those two outings.

"It was nice to get the runs. Everything felt good. The last couple of outings have felt good," said Hanson. "I hope to keep throwing the ball well. I just want to win."

Nate McLouth hit a two-run single and an RBI double while Omar Infante went 3- for-4 with a run scored in the win. LaRoche also doubled twice and scored four runs.

Atlanta came into this set having swept the NL Central-leading Cardinals over the weekend and kept its once-dim playoff hopes alive with the club's fifth straight win on Tuesday.

The Braves are 7 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL East division lead and five back of the Colorado Rockies for the wild card.

Pat Misch (1-3) was charged with four runs on eight hits in five innings while Daniel Murphy had two of New York's four hits.

Tuesday's defeat was the seventh in nine games and 82nd of the year for the Mets, assuring the team's first losing season since 2004.

LaRoche's first longball of the night came in the second and provided a 1-0 edge while his RBI double in the fourth tacked on another run following a leadoff two-bagger by Garret Anderson. Later in the inning, McLouth ripped a two-run single to center scoring LaRoche and Infante.

"I got behind on him in the first at-bat and he (LaRoche) just launched away. The next at-bat I was trying to set him up away and the ball went right in the middle," said Misch. "Bad execution. My stuff was more in the middle of the plate than I would have liked."

Elmer Dessens took the mound for New York in the sixth and LaRoche led off with his second homer of the game for a 5-0 advantage. McLouth added a run- scoring double in the eighth off Brian Stokes to account for the final margin.

Mike Gonzalez and Eric O'Flaherty both pitched an inning of relief.

Hanson is 7-1 in nine starts at home this season...It was the third multi- homer effort of the season for LaRoche, who reached 25 home runs for the second straight season and third time in his career...The last Atlanta player to record four extra-base hits in a game was LaRoche back on August 30, 2006...Braves third baseman Chipper Jones sat for a second straight game due to a groin injury. He has 11 hits in his last 82 at-bats.