ATLANTA—Even Johan Santana couldn’t stop Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves from completing a four-game sweep of the Mets.

Jones drove in the go-ahead run during a three-run seventh inning and Atlanta beat New York 4-2 on Thursday night behind Tim Hudson to complete its first four-game sweep of the Mets in five years.

Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado homered on consecutive pitches from Hudson in the second inning. But Santana (5-3) couldn’t hold the 2-0 lead while giving up a career-high 12 hits and four runs, three earned, in seven innings.

The left-hander did not walk a batter but had only one strikeout, a season low, while losing for the first time since April 12. The struggling Mets fell to 22-23 with their seventh loss in 10 games, a frustrating stretch that has led to speculation about manager Willie Randolph being fired.

New York dropped below .500 for the first time since April 13.

Hudson (7-3) gave up seven hits and two runs in eight innings. He had four strikeouts and no walks.



Marlins 4, Diamondbacks 0

MIAMI—Young left-hander Andrew Miller keeps getting better, and so does his team, surprising Florida.

Miller limited Arizona to five hits in seven innings, and the Marlins completed a series sweep in a showdown of first-place teams.

The series was the most impressive yet by the Marlins. The team with baseball’s lowest payroll built its improbable NL East lead with the help of a weak early schedule, but there was nothing fluky about the way they swept NL West leader Arizona.

The 23-year-old Miller (4-3) had a career-high nine strikeouts, walked one and allowed only one runner to reach second base.



Pirates 8, Brewers 4

PITTSBURGH—Jason Bay and Xavier Nady homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates took advantage of Milwaukee’s inability to drive in runners to beat the Brewers 8-4 Thursday night and avoid a series sweep.

The Brewers, losers of nine in a row on the road before the series started Tuesday, were denied their first three-game sweep in Pittsburgh since PNC Park opened in 2001.

A night after Brewers ace Ben Sheets allowed 11 hits but still pitched a complete game to defeat Pittsburgh 4-1, the Brewers got 14 hits but left a season-high 14 on base. They were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, failing repeatedly to get to Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny (4-4).