ATLANTA – Longtime Braves manager Bobby Cox became just the ninth manager in baseball history to win 2,000 games when Atlanta scored four runs in the seventh inning and beat the Mets 6-3 yesterday.

Of the eight managers who have reached 2,000 wins, seven are in the Hall of Fame. The lone exception is Tony La Russa, still managing the St. Louis Cardinals.

Cox’s overall record is 2,000-1,530, and he has guided the Braves to 13 straight division titles.

Braves starter Russ Ortiz (15-9) gave up two runs in the first but came back with seven solid innings.

Jose Reyes led off the game with a single and Kaz Matsui was hit by a pitch. With one out, Mike Piazza hit a two-run double off the wall in left.

Atlanta broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh when Andruw Jones doubled in the go-ahead run, and 46-year-old Julio Franco drove in another with a pinch-hit single off Aaron Heilman (1-3).

After Mike Stanton took over for Heilman, Marcus Giles hit a hard grounder that slipped under Matsui’s glove at shortstop and nearly rolled to the wall for a two-run triple.

Victor Diaz homered off Antonio Alfonseca in the eight, but by then it barely mattered. John Smoltz pitched the ninth for his 43rd save.

Cox treated it like any other day, shrugging off questions about his record. Still, it was a good chance to acknowledge a manager who may have done one of his best jobs at age 63. During the last offseason, Atlanta gave up Greg Maddux, Gary Sheffield, Javy Lopez, and Vinny Castilla because of budget cuts.

After lingering around .500 for the first three months, Atlanta took control of the NL East in August and wrapped up another division title last week.