ATLANTA – Jeff Weaver took a shutout into the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers ended an eight-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Jason Grabowski hit a two-run homer in the Dodgers’ four-run third inning. Alex Cora added a solo shot in the seventh, helping Los Angeles win for the first time since beating the Chicago Cubs on May 12.

Despite the losing streak, the Dodgers are still in first place in the NL West.

Weaver (3-5) shut out the Braves for seven innings before giving up a three-run homer to pinch-hitter Dewayne Wise in the eighth. Weaver gave up six hits in seven-plus innings and set a season high with nine strikeouts. He walked only one.

Eric Gagne pitched the ninth for the Dodgers, allowing a solo home run to Andruw Jones.

In his only other career start against the Braves, Weaver pitched a five-hit shutout for Detroit in a 6-0 win at Turner Field on June 18, 2002.

Jaret Wright (2-5) allowed eight hits and five runs in 4 1-3 innings as the Braves dropped to 2-9 in day games.

The Dodgers came into the game off back-to-back shutout losses, including a 2-0 defeat against Atlanta on Friday night.

In an effort to shake up the lineup, Dodgers manager Jim Tracy benched slumping Shawn Green. Tracy said he might keep the team’s regular cleanup hitter out of the lineup again Sunday.

David Ross moved into the lineup at catcher and had two hits and an RBI. Paul Lo Duca shifted from catcher to first base to fill in for Green.

Weaver did not allow two baserunners in one inning until the eighth, when Wilson Betemit led off with a single and Nick Green walked. Wise followed with his homer, knocking Weaver out of the game.

The Braves’ first four hitters – Jessie Garcia, Adam LaRoche, Chipper Jones and J.D. Drew – combined for no hits and six strikeouts against Weaver.

The teams played through rain in the third inning, and with the sometimes heavy downpour came the end of the Dodgers’ scoring drought. The Dodgers had gone 22 consecutive scoreless innings before breaking through against Wright.

Grabowski’s fourth homer was just over the reach of Chipper Jones’ glove at the top of the wall in left field. Cora added a run-scoring triple.

Ross knocked Wright out of the game by driving in Adrian Beltre with a sharp single up the middle in the fifth inning, pushing the Dodgers’ lead to 5-0.

Cora hit his third homer of the year in the seventh inning, and Juan Encarnacion added a run-scoring single in the eighth.

Notes: Betemit started at third base for the Braves as Mark DeRosa, hitting only .194, was given the day off. … Wright had not allowed a home run in 35 2-3 innings before giving up Grabowski’s shot. The only other home run Wright allowed this year was to Chicago’s Todd Hollandsworth on April 10. … Johnny Estrada, who had been 1-for-11 on the homestand, had two hits for the Braves.

AP-ES-05-22-04 1714EDT