MAJOR LEAGUES
Atlanta pitcher Tim Hudson notched his 200th career win and made the occasion even more memorable by adding a rare homer and a double with the bat, as the Braves beat the Washington Nationals 8-1 on Tuesday.
Hudson (3-1) dominated the Nationals through seven innings, striking out six and giving up one run. The 37-year-old also led off the second with a double and hit a fifth-inning homer.
Photo: Reuters
The Braves won their ninth straight against Washington, dating to last season.
Hudson’s homer was just the third of his career and first since 2011. He became the third active pitcher with 200 wins, joining Andy Pettitte (248) and Roy Halladay (201). Hudson is 200-105 in his career, including 92 wins while with Oakland from 1999 to 2004.
In other games, Pablo Sandoval’s ninth-inning homer led the San Francisco Giants to a 2-1 win over Arizona.
Diamondbacks starter Trevor Cahill left the game after allowing a leadoff single in the ninth. J.J. Putz (2-1) came on for Arizona and struck out one, then went ahead 0-1 in the count on Sandoval, who sent the next pitch into the stands.
St Louis ended a three-game skid by edging Cincinnat 2-1 with a two-run homer from Matt Holliday.
Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia, who gave up one run and no walks in eight innings, improved to 7-0 in eight starts against the Reds at Busch Stadium.
Milwaukee’s Rickie Weeks ended a season-long slump with a three-run homer and five RBIs to lead the Brewers to a 12-8 win over Pittsburgh.
Weeks finished with three hits for the Brewers, who won their ninth straight against Pittsburgh. Weeks, who began the night batting a miserable .167, hit just his second homer of the season in the eighth.
Los Angeles’ Ryu Hyun-jin had a career-best 12 strikeouts in six innings and also drove in a run to help the Dodgers to a 6-2 victory over Colorado. Hanley Ramirez homered for LA in his first start of the season.
In Toronto, Edwin Encarnacion hit an upper-deck homer in the fifth inning, then later connected for a go-ahead shot in that sent the Blue Jays to a 9-7 win over Boston.
Encarnacion, who had the 10th multi-homer game of his career, became the 14th player to reach the upper deck in left field at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays ended a four-game losing streak and avoided the first 18-loss in April in club history.
Still, the Red Sox head into this month with the best record in the majors for the 11th time.
The Baltimore Orioles’ Nate McLouth hit a leadoff homer to commence a four-run first off Seattle Mariners rookie Brandon Maurer, setting up a 7-2 win. Maurer (2-4) lasted only four innings despite not giving up a run after the first.
Texas’ Yu Darvish overcame a shaky start and relied on his batters to take the win in the Texas Rangers’ 10-6 victory over the White Sox.
Darvish (5-1) struck out nine in six innings, but the game was tied when he threw the last of his 108 pitches. He leads the majors with 58 strikeouts in 38-2/3 innings.
Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder each hit two-run homers, while Justin Verlander pitched seven strong innings as the Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 6-1 for their fifth straight victory.
Kansas City’s James Shields made a stellar first start against his former team and Mike Moustakas hit a two-run homer to lead the Royals to an 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes drove in four runs and Seth Smith knocked in three with a bases-loaded double as the Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-6.
New York’s Hiroki Kuroda settled in after a rocky start and Travis Hafner had three RBI singles as the Yankees used small ball to beat Houston 7-4.
San Diego’s Carlos Quentin homered and drove in three runs and the Padres battered Chicago pitcher Edwin Jackson in a 13-7 win over the Cubs.
Miami’s Juan Pierre scored standing up on a wild pitch with none out in the ninth as the Marlins came from behind in the final inning for the second consecutive game to beat the reeling New York Mets 2-1.
In the only interleague game, Cleveland’s Ryan Raburn homered twice for the second straight game as the Indians hit seven home runs in all to rout Philadelphia 14-2.
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