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Teixeira hits three homers as Braves roll

Jun 22, 2008 - 10:04 PM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Mark Teixeira helped Tim Hudson finally defeat a team in his former league.

Teixeira smacked three homers and Hudson pitched seven scoreless frames to lead the Atlanta Braves to an 8-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in the rubber contest of the three-game interleague set on Sunday.

Brian McCann also homered and Ruben Gotay drove in two runs for Atlanta, which improved to 27-12 at Turner Field this season.

"It's hard enough to hit one home run," Teixeira said. "I've gone weeks and weeks without hitting one home run. To hit three in a game, a lot of things have to go right for you."

On a day an article appeared in the local paper questioning last year's trade that brought the struggling first baseman to Atlanta, Teixeira quickly silenced the critics with his bat.

The switch-hitting slugger staked the Braves to a 1-0 lead with a smash off the right field foul pole off Seattle starter Carlos Silva (3-9) in the second and followed with a 397-foot blast into the Braves' bullpen - also off Silva - in the fourth.

Three frames later, Teixeira became the first Brave player to hit three homers in one game at Turner Field when he lined a two-run line drive blast into the right field stands off Ryan Rowland-Smith. It was the second career three-homer game for the former Georgia Tech star, who homered from both sides of the plate for the fourth time.

"It was good (to hit three homers)," Teixeira said. "I have been struggling this year. I haven't been very consistent. To have a game like this and to help us win, it was nice."

"Teixeira blasted off today with three homers," Braves manager Bobby Cox added. "We've been waiting for that home run swing to come around and it did today."

The Braves' first baseman became the 13th player in Atlanta history to smack three homers in one game and the first to do it at home since Ken Griffey Sr. accomplished the feat against Philadelphia on July 22, 1986, at Fulton County Stadium.

Chipper Jones had Atlanta's last three-homer game on August 14, 2006, at Washington.

"(Teixeira's) a special guy and he had a big day," Seattle interim manager Jim Riggleman said. "He's very talented. He picked his spots and got them elevated.

"He got us. The second one was the real killer. We were still in the game there. The third was the icing on the cake."

Teixeira received a rare curtain call from the Turner Field faithful, his second one since being acquired by Atlanta last year. The 28-year-old Teixeira has as many curtain calls here in less than one year as Jones has in his 14-year Braves career.

"I love the Braves fans, they've supported me since I've been here," said Teixeira, who also received a curtain call after homering and driving in four runs in his Atlanta debut on August 1, 2007. "There are some places that don't give (curtain calls) very often and in Atlanta, they don't give them very often. I feel very blessed."

Teixeira's historic day helped Hudson (8-5) defeat an American League team for the first time since 2004.

"Every time that Hudson pitches, if I can give him three home runs, it's going to be OK," Teixeira joked.

Hudson excelled in his first six seasons in the junior circuit, sporting a 99-39 record while with the Oakland Athletics. However, the Atlanta ace has struggled against AL teams since being traded here after the 2004 campaign, sporting a dismal 0-10 record with a 7.82 ERA in 12 interleague outings.

Hudson's 13th try was a lucky one.

"I'm just glad we scored eight runs," a sarcastic Hudson joked. "I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have been able to win if we didn't score eight today. I'm just not good enough to play against American League teams anymore, I guess."

The 32-year-old ace breezed through a weak Mariners' lineup that had four players with batting averages under 220. The righthander scattered four hits, walked four and struck out two over seven innings to finally solve an AL opponent.

"I didn't even realize (my record against the AL) until someone brought it to my attention this year," Hudson said. "I knew I struggled in interleague games the last couple of years. It's one of those things where you happen to have bad games while you're playing American League teams."

McCann also aided Hudson by drilling his 14th homer over the center field wall after Teixeira's blast in the fourth. It was the fourth back-to-back blasts by the Braves this season, and McCann has been involved in all of them.

Silva allowed four runs and nine hits over four frames.

Jeff Clement smacked a two-run homer in the ninth for the Mariners, who fell to 1-2 under interim manager Jim Riggleman.