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Hudson, Francoeur dominate Nationals in win

Apr 11, 2007 - 4:36 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Tim Hudson may be finding his groove with the Atlanta Braves.

Hudson struck out seven over seven scoreless innings and Andruw Jones and Jeff Francoeur homered as the Braves cruised to an 8-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.

Coming off a performance in which he allowed just two hits in seven innings, Hudson (1-0) limited the Nationals to three hits and a walk, striking out five of the first seven hitters he faced.

"You couldn't ask for a better start to my season," Hudson said. "And you couldn't ask for a better start for our team. Every game is not going to be like the first two I've thrown, but it's definitely good to get out on the right foot for a change. The last couple of years, I got off to a pretty rocky start."

"He's a key in our rotation," Jones said. "Physically, he came (into camp) stronger than he came (in the past). He's pitching the way I saw him pitch in Oakland."

Jones' home run in the fourth was his 150th at Turner Field. The blast gave him 343 for his career, which moved him past Hank Aaron and Mel Ott into sole possession of sixth place for the most homers by a player under 30 years old.

"To be in the same category with those people, all those people are Hall of Famers, it's a good thing, Jones said. "When you go out and play every day and (can) be consistent, good things happen."

Francoeur, who tied a career high with five RBI, collected two hits and two runs. His two-run double in the fifth gave the Braves a 3-0 lead and his three-run home run in the eighth capped off the scoring for Atlanta.

"Last year at this time, I was 2-for-29," Francoeur said. "It's definitely a little more satisfying."

Mike Gonzalez and Chad Paronto kept Washington in check, each pitching an inning apiece for Atlanta, which is off to its best start since the 1995 World Series champions started 7-1.

"The difference is pitching," Francoeur said. "It's always pitching. Hopefully, we can duplicate (1995), it'd definitely be nice."

"(Pitching coach) Roger McDowell's done a super job," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's working well with these guys. He's got them on track and ready to go."

Nationals rookie Matt Chico (0-1) failed to make it to the fifth inning in his second straight start, allowing four runs - one earned - and six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

The 1-7 start is the worst start by the Nationals' franchise since the 1998 Expos started the season with the same record. Washington has trailed, 3-0, in every game this season.

"It's hard to play from behind," Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "We had chances to score first today and get it done. But, there's no way we can play like this all year. We're hitting the ball well, but it's just not falling in."