PITTSBURGH (AP) - Tim Hudson limited Pittsburgh to two hits and an unearned run over seven innings and the Atlanta Braves halted their seven-game road losing streak and the Pirates' six-game winning streak with an 8-1 victory Monday in the second game of a doubleheader.
In the opener, Freddy Sanchez hit a three-run double and Zach Duke pitched six shutout innings as the Pirates won 5-0.
With Mark Kotsay and Brian McCann driving in three runs each, Atlanta avoided its first four-game sweep by Pittsburgh since Sept. 1-3, 1978. The Pirates ended their longest winning streak since winning 10 straight from June 25-July 5, 2004.
Hudson (6-2) won his third in a row, holding the Pirates to a lone single over his final six innings while finishing with five strikeouts and two walks. Pittsburgh's only run came in the first on first baseman Greg Norton's error on Nate McLouth's grounder.
Atlanta came back to take a 3-1 lead on Kotsay's two-run double in the fourth against John Van Benschoten (0-1), and McCann's three-run homer in the fifth made it 7-1. Kotsay added an RBI double in the seventh.
Hudson has permitted only three earned runs and 11 hits over 23 innings in beating the Reds, Padres and Pirates in consecutive starts, averaging nearly eight innings per start.
The Braves still own the majors' worst road record, 5-14, but finally ended a road losing streak that extended over its last two road trips. They also stopped Pittsburgh's seven-game winning streak at home.
Van Benschoten, one of the majors' worst starting pitchers last season with an 0-7 record and a 10.15 ERA in nine starts, wasn't much better in his first 2008 start. The 2001 first-round draft pick was roughed up for seven runs, six earned, and nine hits over four-plus innings. The right-hander has a 1-12 record and 8.84 ERA in 21 career major league games and hasn't won since 2004.
Even while splitting, the Braves left 24 on base, 15 in the opener as Duke (2-2) shook off five walks and three errors behind him while giving up five hits.
Duke was constantly in trouble, with at least two runners reaching in all but one inning, but he got key outs when he needed them to strand 10 runners. He won successive starts for the first time since beating the Brewers and Mets, respectively, on Sept. 11 and 17, 2006.
Braves rookie Jair Jurrjens (4-3) got himself into trouble in the fifth by walking Jason Michaels and hitting light-hitting rookie Brian Bixler with a pitch in the upper back, helping the Pirates load the bases.
After Duke struck out, Sanchez - 10-for-28 (.357) with eight RBIs as a leadoff batter since moving up one spot in the order last week - cleared the bases with a double to right-center. Adam LaRoche added a two-run homer, his fourth, in the eighth against Manny Acosta.
-- NOTES: The Pirates went into the doubleheader with a six-game errorless streak, only to commit six errors - all but one by infielders. ... Hudson lost his previous two road starts, pitching only three innings in each. ... Braves 1B Mark Teixeira left in the fourth inning of the opener with back spasms on a cloudy, chilly 48-degree day. He didn't play in the second game. ... Pittsburgh won the season series 5-2.
Monday
May 5th, 2025
12:08PM
