LaRoche homers twice, Hanson throws 7 innings, Braves blank Mets 6-0

LaRoche, Hanson lead Braves past Mets

ATLANTA — Adam LaRoche homered twice and drove in three runs, rookie Tommy Hanson pitched seven innings and the Atlanta Braves won their fifth straight, beating the New York Mets 6-0 on Tuesday night.

The winning streak has likely come a little late for the Braves, who began the day 7½ games behind Philadelphia in the NL East and six games back in the wild-card race.

New York has lost seven of eight.

LaRoche went 4 for 4, including solo homers in the second and the sixth, giving him 25 this season — 12 since he was acquired from the Boston Red Sox on July 31. He had an RBI double in the fourth, and a leadoff double in the eighth.

LaRoche scored four runs and became the first Braves player to have four extra-base hits in a game since doing it himself during his first stint with the team, on Aug. 30, 2006.

Hanson (10-3) had another strong outing, allowing three hits and striking out eight.

This was the second straight scoreless start for the 23-year-old Hanson, who has quickly established himself as one of baseball’s top young pitchers. He pitched eight innings at Houston last week, but closer Rafael Soriano squandered it in a 2-1 loss.

Nate McLouth’s two-run double off Pat Misch (1-3) finished off a three-run fourth that gave the Braves a 4-0 lead before a sparse crowd at Turner Field.

Omar Infante had three hits for the Braves.

The Mets managed only one hit off Hanson through the first six innings. They finally strung together a couple of hits in the seventh, but Anderson Hernandez grounded out to end the threat.

Hanson didn’t allow a runner past second base. Mike Gonzalez and Eric Flaherty finished off the four-hitter, the Braves’ ninth shutout of the season.

Misch went five innings, surrendering eight hits and four runs. He walked one and didn’t strike out anyone.

NOTES: Hanson had a good night at the plate with three straight sacrifice bunts, each coming after Infante singled. … Heavy rain washed out batting practice, but the game started on time and there were no more showers. … The crowd was announced at 25,094, but there appeared to be less than 10,000 people at Turner Field. … The Mets were shut out for the 11th time.