As sure as the sun will rise this morning, the Braves will always seem to reload with a pitcher who owns the Mets. Last night it was Tim Hudson, who is fast becoming one of the Mets’ most feared rivals.
Hudson came off the disabled list and took the mound for the first time in over a month and dominated the Mets through six innings. Hudson improved to 7-5 after limiting the lifeless Met lineup to five hits and no runs in a 3-0 Atlanta win.
He threw only 62 pitches last night – an average of about 10 per frame – and the only real sweat Hudson broke was when he chugged around the bases on offense. At the plate, he was 1-for-3 with a double down the first-base line and a run scored, which is more than any regular batter for the Mets was able to muster.
After reaching on a fielder’s choice in the third inning, Hudson scored from second on Kelly Johnson’s single, a run that would stand as the game-winner.
“I was gassed, to be honest with you,” Hudson said. “I haven’t been out there in a while. It’s the getting up and sitting down that does it. I haven’t hit the ball a lot this year. Running the bases was something that I hadn’t done. I haven’t had to score from second all year, so I was pretty gassed after that.”
While running the bases may have been a new experience for Hudson, shutting down the Mets is becoming an old habit. With last night’s blanking over six innings, he improved to 14 straight against them without allowing a run.
“I thought it was very impressive,” Atlanta skipper Bobby Cox said. “The Mets have a good hitting team and he made a lot of quality pitches. I really think this was one of his top ballgames. He put the ball right where he wanted to.”
Hudson missed a total of 28 games and had gone 0-2 in his three starts before going on the shelf. Expected to give the injury-ravaged Braves a lift in the second half, Hudson is tops in the majors with a .731 win percentage (49-18) in games after the All-Star break.
“I wasn’t quite as sharp as I would like to be,” Hudson said. “But I couldn’t ask for anything more, coming off a four-week little vacation here.”