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Hudson suffers gruesome injury, gets win vs. Mets

Jul 25, 2013 - 4:27 AM Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - Atlanta right-hander Tim Hudson was pitching shutout baseball into the eighth inning against the New York Mets, but the veteran suffered a fractured right ankle.

The Braves, who got homers from Dan Uggla, Andrelton Simmons and Evan Gattis, beat the Mets, 8-2, but it proved to be a costly win for the NL East leaders.

The Braves said Hudson will have surgery in Atlanta when swelling to the ankle goes down. No timetable was given for recovery, but it's likely he'll be lost for the season.

Hudson was taken off the field on a stretcher after being injured when Eric Young's spike hit flush on Hudson's right ankle at first base. Young hit a sharp grounder that went off the chest of first baseman Freddie Freeman. Hudson raced to the bag to accept the throw, and with his foot on the base, Young stepped on Hudson's ankle, and the foot twisted awkwardly.

"It's a freak play. Two guys going for the bag and EY just stepped on him. By the reaction of the crowd it wasn't good," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

The veteran pitcher tumbled to the ground in pain and medical personnel were careful not to move his legs, which were bounded together. Hudson was then put on a stretcher and lifted onto a cart.

Before he was wheeled off the field, Young came over and spoke to Hudson.

"I apologized to him and told him it was an accident. I obviously wasn't trying to hurt him on the play," Young said. "He just told me to keep my head up and keep playing the game the complete, hard way, the right way. He said there was nothing I could do about it. That made me feel somewhat better, but bummed that he's going to be out a little while."

The 38-year-old Hudson (8-7) was charged with four hits and a pair of runs over 7 2/3 innings. Hudson also walked three and had a season-high nine strikeouts to win his fourth straight start.

After he left the contest, Daniel Murphy doubled to left field off Luis Avilan to score Anthony Recker and Omar Quintanilla to get the Mets on the board at 6-2.

Jeremy Hefner (4-8) was pounded for six hits and six runs -- five earned -- over 4 1/3 innings for the Mets, who failed to build on a 4-1 win Tuesday. The four-game series concludes Thursday afternoon.

With two outs in the second, Gattis homered to the second deck in left field.

The Braves tacked on five more runs in the fifth. Brian McCann reached safely on Murphy's error and Gattis singled ahead of Uggla's three-run shot to left. Chris Johnson then singled, and one out later Simmons homered for a second straight night, this being a blast to left.

Atlanta tacked on two runs in the ninth courtesy of a passed ball and a Justin Upton RBI single.

Game Notes

Mets third baseman David Wright was shaken up in the bottom of the fourth inning. He grounded out, but on his follow through, the bat broke and hit Wright in the back of the head ... Rookie left-hander Alex Wood will start for the Braves on Thursday in place of Paul Maholm, who suffered a left wrist contusion on Saturday against the White Sox ... Zack Wheeler, who is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in two career starts at Citi Field, pitches for the Mets Thursday ... After going 0-3 in six starts in the month of June, Hudson is 4-0 in four starts in the month of July. He needs three strikeouts for 1,000 with the Braves.