When the Braves scored four runs in the first inning Friday night, the odds of getting the 10,000th win in franchise history increased considerably – especially with Tim Hudson on the mound.
By the time Martin Prado homered in the fourth inning in his first game back from the disabled list, it was icing on the proverbial cake for Hudson, who had celebrated his 36th birthday Thursday.
In their first game after the All-Star break, the Braves pounded the Washington Nationals 11-1 at Turner Field to become the third major league franchise with 10,000 wins.
Freddie Freeman drove in three runs for the Braves, who joined the Giants (10,489) and Cubs (10,277) as the only franchises with five-digit wins, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“That’s pretty cool," said Hudson said of being the winning pitcher in the Braves' historic win. "Obviously that’s a lot of wins, lot of games from a lot of teams in a lot of different cities."
He smiled and added, "I’m sure the players from the [Boston] Beaneaters are probably excited. There’s probably a tear in their ancestors’ eyes somewhere.”
The Beaneaters were one of the earliest names of what is considered the longest continuously operating franchise in major league history.
The Braves are only eight losses from joining the Phillies as the only franchises with 10,000 defeats. But the way they’ve played lately, it could take a while to reach that mark.
The Braves have won eight of their past 10 games and own a National League-best 25-12 record since June 1, though they remain 3 1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the NL East standings. Those teams have the best records in the league this season.
“We finished the first half with the score the other way around," said manager Fredi Gonzalez, referring to the Braves' 14-1 loss at Philadelphia on Sunday in the last game before the break. "It was nice to come back and score some runs, and Huddy gave us a terrific performance.
"Seven solid innings, and he helped himself with the bat also.”
Hudson (8-6) allowed one run, one walk and seven hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings to win his fourth consecutive decision and contributed two hits to the Braves’ 13-hit attack, including a double and an RBI single.
The veteran right-hander has an astounding 139-5 career record when his teams have scored four or more runs while he has been in the game. Hudson gave up consecutive hits to start the game and allowed a run in the first inning, then scattered five singles and a walk over the next six.
“Guys really came out and played hard and put some runs up early," Hudson said. "It’s great. You never know what’s going to happen after the break. We were playing some pretty good baseball at the end of the first half. The guys came out and were having some good at-bats.
"Obviously they [Nationals] helped us out kicking it around a little bit. But that’s part of the game, as well. We still had some good base hits and some good at-bats and put some crooked numbers up.”
He downplayed his record when receiving four support runs or more while in games by saying, "I think pretty much any top-of-the-rotation guy, if they get that many runs, that much of a lead, they should win the game. I think it’s your job to go out there and preserve a lead. If you get a three- or four-run lead and you don’t hold it down, you don’t need to be up here.”
The Braves scored four runs the first inning, three of them unearned after three errors, including a double-error by Nationals first baseman Michael Morse. On Jordan Schafer’s leadoff grounder, Morse had a fielding error and a throwing error, allowing Schafer to reach second base.
One out later, Jason Heyward walked and Freeman singled in the first run. Dan Uggla followed with an RBI double and another run scored when shortstop Ian Desmond booted a ground ball. Nate McLouth added an RBI single as the Braves batted around in the first inning against Livan Hernandez (8-7).
"We were patient with Livan," Gonzalez said. "He made some mistakes over the plate, which he usually doesn’t. We also took advantage of some miscues on their part, which is good to see. Because we’ve been in that situation and not gotten anything. Good all-around effort by the entire team.”
The Nationals had won 24 of 39 games since May 31 to even their record at 46-46 before Friday, when they were a five-error mess. Hudson improved to 12-3 with a 1.97 ERA in 21 starts against the franchise formerly known as the Montreal Expos.
Hernandez was charged with six runs (three earned) and eight hits in four innings.
Hudson drove in the Braves’ fifth run with a single in the third inning, and Prado led off the fourth with a homer to the left-field seats. It was Prado’s third at-bat after spending five weeks on the disabled list recovering from a staph infection that required a cleaning-out surgical procedure to his right calf.
“I was waiting for this moment for a long time," said Prado, who added an RBI single in the Braves' three-run sixth inning. "To be part of this historic win was a blessing for me, and to help the team win was even better.”
Prado moved from left field to third base, where he will fill in for two to three weeks while Chipper Jones recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery.
“It’s great having him back," Hudson said. "That was a big blow for us, losing him for six or seven weeks. Obviously it hurts losing Chipper, but to be able to plug Prado in, you’re not missing anything there. He's going to play some great baseball for us.”
Hudson is 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in his past five starts, and he pitched six scoreless innings in his only non-decision in that stretch.
Once a two-way standout at Auburn, Hudson has seven two-hit games in his past 100 and has hit .207 with 10 extra-base hits and 19 RBIs in 217 at-bats during that period since June 2007.
“We don’t have games where we help ourselves out too much," Hudson said, "so it’s nice to go out there and get a couple of knocks."
