• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Braves return to Turner Field to tangle with Nationals

May 10, 2011 - 2:41 PM (Sports Network) - The Atlanta Braves are back in the cozy confines of Turner Field and will begin an eight-game homestand tonight in the first of three straight meetings with the NL East-rival Washington Nationals.

Atlanta won two of three contests in Philadelphia over the weekend and will also host the Phillies and Houston Astros on the upcoming residency. It has won four in a row at home and six of seven overall, including Sunday night's 5-2 win over the Phillies on national television.

The Braves cracked three home runs to back a solid outing from unbeaten starter Jair Jurrjens (4-0), who held the Phillies to one run on eight hits through 6 1/3 innings. Jurrjens is part of an Atlanta rotation that leads the National League with a 2.90 earned run average. Craig Kimbrel struck out two in the ninth inning for his eighth save.

Freddie Freeman went 3-for-4 at the plate with a home run and two runs scored, while Alex Gonzalez opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the second inning and Eric Hinske belted a two-run shot of his own.

"Gonzo's two-run homer in the second inning was big," Freeman said on the club's website. "[Phils starter Cole] Hamels is a No. 1 guy for a lot of teams. We seem to never miss him. We were able to get on him early and JJ shut them down. It was a good win today."

Tim Hudson has been shutting down opposing hitters to the tune of a .219 batting average and is coming off the 12th shutout of his career last Wednesday in an 8-0 win versus Milwaukee in the second game of a doubleheader. Hudson allowed one hit, struck out six and issued just one walk to push his record to 4-2 in seven starts to go along with a 2.86 earned run average.

Hudson, a right-hander, defeated Washington on April 3 at Nationals Park, hurling seven innings of one-run ball with five K's in an 11-2 rout. The win lifted Hudson's record against the Nationals to 11-2 with a 1.88 ERA in 19 career starts.

Washington will begin the final stretch of its nine-game road trip and lost out on a chance for a three-game sweep of the Florida Marlins with Sunday's 8-0 loss in the series finale at Sun Life Stadium. Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out 11 for the win.

Mike Morse led the Nats with two of the team's four hits and starting pitcher Livan Hernandez was saddled with the loss for surrendering six runs and eight hits in five innings of work.

"This was one of those times I couldn't do anything about," Hernandez said. "You gotta go and get ready for the next start, put this one in the books and try to fix what went wrong."

The Nationals are 2-4 on the road trip and will hand the ball to Jason Marquis tonight in the series opener with Atlanta. Marquis had a three-start winning streak put on hold the last time out in a 7-4 loss at Philadelphia last Wednesday. Marquis allowed a season-worst seven runs -- six earned -- and 10 hits in a season-low five innings.

Marquis, who was coming off a shutout of San Francisco on April 29, is now 3-1 with a 3.66 ERA in six starts this season. The right-hander hopes to move closer to the .500 mark against the Braves, as he is 2-4 with an 8.00 ERA in seven career starts in this series.

Atlanta won two of three matchups with Washington from March 31-April 3 this season in the nation's capital, but the Nats are 6-4 in the past 10 meetings between the two NL East inhabitants.