Glavine picks up win No. 10

Braves complete sweep of slumping Mets; Red claim 3-2 win over Cards

? Tom Glavine is getting better with age.

The 36-year-old Glavine became the NL’s second 10-game winner, pitching seven strong innings as the Atlanta Braves completed a sweep of the slumping New York Mets with a 3-2 victory Thursday.

New York right fielder Joe McEwing makes a catch at the wall to retire Atlanta batter Keith Lockhart. The Braves won, 3-2, on Thursday in Atlanta.

Glavine struggled through the first two innings, throwing 50 pitches, but he didn’t falter on a sweltering day that claimed New York catcher Mike Piazza, who had to leave in the sixth because of lightheadedness.

“I’ve never gotten old,” Glavine quipped. “Sure, every year that goes by I get a little older. But physically speaking, I feel as good now, or better, than I have in some years. I don’t even think about my age.”

Glavine (10-2) won his fifth straight start, allowing seven hits and both New York runs. He retired the last nine hitters he faced to reach 10 wins at the earliest point of his career.

Arizona’s Curt Schilling leads the majors with 11 wins.

“I looked up at my pitch count after the second inning and thought, ‘I have to figure out something or I’m not going to be around here very long,”‘ Glavine said. “The last two innings, my energy level was better and stronger than at any point of the game.”

Atlanta won for the ninth time in 11 games, including three straight victories over the Mets. The other game in the series was rained out.

Overall, the Mets have lost five in a row, falling below .500 (29-30) and 41/2 games behind the first-place Braves in the NL East.

“It doesn’t really mean much, other than seeing their fans walk out of the stadium mad. That gives me great pleasure,” Chipper Jones said. “But it’s too early. That’s a team we will hear from at some point in the season.”

New York lost the three games at Turner Field by a total of four runs.

Reds 3, Cardinals 2

Cincinnati Ken Griffey Jr. homered for the first time since his comeback from a serious knee injury, and Barry Larkin drove in a pair of runs as Cincinnati held off St. Louis. Danny Graves escaped a bases-loaded, one-out threat in the ninth inning and Cincinnati won the last game of the rain-shortened series.

Marlins-Phillies, ppd

Philadelphia The game between Florida and Philadelphia scheduled for Thursday night was postponed because of a forecast for heavy rain. The game will be made up as part of a twi-night doubleheader on Sept. 10 at 5:05 p.m.