Atlanta, GA – Tim Hudson tossed eight strong innings on Tuesday and the Atlanta offense banged out a season-high 17 hits en route to an 8-1 drubbing of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series.
Hudson (6-3) allowed one run on seven hits and a walk with seven strikeouts to earn the victory. Anthony Varvaro finished off the rout with a clean ninth inning for the Braves, who snapped a brief two-game skid.
"It's a good way to get the homestand started," Hudson said. "We haven't played particularly well at home this year. Hopefully we finish the first half on a good note."
Michael Bourn crushed a solo home run among his two hits and scored twice. Freddie Freeman had three hits, including an RBI double, and Andrelton Simmons went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the victory. Chipper Jones contributed three hits for Atlanta.
Daniel Hudson (3-2) was rocked for five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts in just 1 2/3 innings. Jason Kubel provided the only offense with a home run for the Diamondbacks, who had their four-game winning streak halted.
Atlanta struck first in its first at-bat when Bourn stroked a 93-mile-per-hour fastball deep and over the wall in straightaway center field to give the Braves a lead they would not relinquish.
The Braves pushed across four more runs in their next at-bat. Back-to-back doubles by Jones and Freeman plated the second run of the game and Simmons followed with a base hit to bring home Freeman, making it a 3-0 game. Jason Heyward added a sacrifice fly later in the frame to widen the margin to 4-0 before a Martin Prado single ended the night for Daniel Hudson.
Josh Collmenter was summoned from the bullpen to face Brian McCann, who ripped a base hit into center to score Bourn for a 5-0 cushion.
Arizona got on the board in the third when Kubel got a hold of a high sinker from Tim Hudson and sent it high and deep over the wall in right-center field to cut the deficit to 5-1. It was only the third home run Tim Hudson has allowed this season.
"He was pretty tough," Kubel said of Tim Hudson's effort. "That might have been the only ball up I saw all day. He made it difficult for us."
The Braves extended the lead to 7-1 with two runs in the seventh. Dan Uggla was hit by a pitch to start the inning, moved to second on a balk by D-Backs reliever Jonathan Albaladejo. A Jones fly out advanced Uggla to third before he crossed home on a fielder's choice from Freeman. Simmons then doubled to right, and a sac fly by Tim Hudson plated Freeman.
McCann struck again for the Braves to cap the scoring in the eighth when he laced a line drive to right field, allowing Heyward to score from second.
Game Notes
Atlanta kicked off a season-long, 10-game homestand on Tuesday in which it will also face the Nationals and Cubs...Tim Hudson owns a 28-9 record in 57 games -- 56 starts -- against teams from the NL West...It was Simmons' ninth multi-hit game of the season...It was Jones' first three-hit game since May 5 against the Colorado Rockies...17 hits matched a season-high for a nine-inning game for Atlanta...Arizona went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and stranded six on base.
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