Hudson encouraged by outing

By Carroll Rogers

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

MIAMI — Tim Hudson and the Braves were encouraged by his first game since elbow-reconstruction surgery, when he held the Marlins to two runs in 5-1/3 innings of a 4-3 win Tuesday night.

Hudson took the win in his first start in 13-1/2 months, and he did it on a rainy night in a game delayed three hours. Hudson said 45 minutes before what ultimately became time for the first pitch, half his teammates were asleep on couches and on the floor in the visiting clubhouse at Land Shark Stadium.

“I never thought I was going to have a couple energy drinks before I pitch my first game after Tommy John,” Hudson said with a laugh.

But by the time his outing was over, and the Braves had won a key game in the wild-card hunt, he and his teammates were excited over how it went.

“I feel real happy with the outcome of the game,” Hudson said. “Obviously everybody was really pumped and excited for me. On paper, it was a pretty good game, and obviously it was a big win. I feel like I’m actually a lot better than what I showed. I know I can make better pitches than I made last night.”

Hudson wants better command of both his change-up and his sinker. He’ll have a chance to improve on those in his next start, which is scheduled for Sunday against the Reds. The Braves are skipping Kenshin Kawakami this time through the rotation. Beyond that they haven’t announced their plans, whether they’ll go to a six-man rotation or send someone to the bullpen.

For Hudson, this is an important stretch not only for a possible postseason bid but for a chance to show the Braves he’s worth picking up his $12 million option for 2010. He can void the option, but doesn’t plan to.

“Obviously I love it here,” Hudson said. “I’ve been fortunate to play here for a great organization, for a great manager for a lot of years and I hope this isn’t the last year, but at the same time I understand the situation. I’m just happy for the opportunity to be able to come out and pitch. First and foremost hopefully give us a good chance to win and make the playoffs and secondly hopefully show this organization that I’m back 100 percent and they can rely on me to win.”

Day off for Chipper

Chipper Jones was out of the lineup Wednesday night to rest some tightness in his back and see if a day off will help him improve at the plate. Before Wednesday, Jones had only six hits in his past 53 at-bats (.113) since Aug. 16.

“It gives me a chance to get in the cage today and try to work on some things, and hopefully my back will feel better tomorrow,” Jones said before the game.

Jones said his back tightened up after he arrived in Florida, something he attributes to “old age” but doesn’t consider serious.

As for his struggles at the plate, Jones said he and hitting coach Terry Pendleton have compared video of when he’s hitting well to now, and they don’t see any obvious differences. He reiterated that he’s missing the one good pitch he expects to get per at-bat.

He also has been talking to his father, Larry Jones Sr., a former hitting coach at Stetson and his lifelong batting guru.

“It’s basically going back to what my dad taught me, just hack your way out of it,” Jones said. “Just go up there, be aggressive, look for the first mistake and try to hit it as hard as you can. I’m doing that. When I get the pitch, I’m just fouling it off.”