Braves 8, Mets 0

ATLANTA – Jaret Wright stayed undefeated in July and Johnny Estrada homered to lead the Atlanta Braves past New York 8-0 and spoil the Mets debut of Kris Benson.

The Mets acquired Benson from Pittsburgh a day earlier, hoping he would solidify their rotation. Pitching against the Braves for third straight start, Benson (8-9) lasted only five innings and lost for the second time in a row.

He beat Atlanta 4-3 on July 21 as a member of the Pirates, allowing only two runs on five hits in eight innings. In Benson’s next outing, he went six innings in a 4-2 loss. The Braves tagged him for seven runs on seven hits in this one as the Mets lost for the 13th time in their past 18 games, and fell eight games behind Atlanta in the NL East.

Wright (9-5) allowed three hits in seven innings, and improved to 4-0 this month – joining teammates Russ Ortiz (5-0) and Mike Hampton (5-0) with unbeaten records in the month. Since falling to 2-5 in a loss to the Dodgers on May 22, Wright has won seven straight with a 2.29 ERA in 13 starts.

He also had two hits and scored twice, while Estrada finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Chipper Jones and J.D. Drew drove in two runs apiece for the Braves, who were 20-6 in July and lead the division by 41/2 games.

It was Atlanta’s major league-leading 10th shutout.

Wright bounced an infield single over Benson’s head to lead off the third, then scored later in the inning on a broken-bat single by Drew. Jones drove in Marcus Giles with a shallow sacrifice fly to left, and Estrada singled to score Drew and make it 3-0.

The Braves chased Benson with a four-run fifth, highlighted by Estrada’s three-run homer to right. His towering drive barely cleared the wall, landing in the first row of seats. Still, it gave Atlanta a 7-0 lead.

Drew made it 8-0 with an RBI single in the sixth, scoring Wright.

The Mets had a chance in the second, getting two on with two outs. But David Wright struck out to end the threat, and they had no more runners reach second.

Before the game, both teams made minor trades just before the no-waiver deadline. The Mets sent righty Scott Erickson to Texas for a player to be named, and the Braves got lefty reliever Tom Martin from the Dodgers for minor league pitcher Matt Merricks.

Notes: 1B Eric Valent had two of the Mets’ five hits. … Giles and Drew each stole second against Mets C Mike Piazza for the second straight game. Piazza has thrown out only 21 percent (7-of-34) of base stealers this season. … When Jones scored on Estrada’s homer in the fifth, it was his 1,000th career run. He trails only Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Dale Murphy on the Braves’ all-time list. … Mets OF Gerald Williams, called up from Triple-A Norfolk on Friday, flied out as a pinch-hitter in the sixth.

AP-ES-07-31-04 2137EDT