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Marlins get help and get the better of Hudson

Jun 5, 2007 - 3:30 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Thanks to some shoddy defense by the Atlanta Braves, the Florida Marlins finally got to Tim Hudson.

Florida took advantage of two Atlanta defensive miscues and Aaron Boone drove in two runs in a four-run fifth inning to power the Marlins to a 6-4 win over the Braves on Monday in the opener of a four-game series.

Hudson has dominated the Marlins and entered Monday 5-0 with a 2.10 ERA in nine career starts against Florida, allowing just 14 earned runs in 60 frames.

But the Marlins changed that on by pounding out six runs and seven hits off Hudson (6-4) to defeat him for the first time in 10 tries.

"We ruined his night," Boone said. "You talk to any hitter, they'll tell you that any night Tim Hudson's going, it's not going to be a lot of fun. For us to take advantage of some bounces, this is a big one. He's one of the best in the league."

Florida was the beneficiary of some uncharacteristically bad Atlanta defense and wildness from Hudson in a four-run fifth inning.

Reggie Abercrombie singled to start the frame and advanced to second on a sacrifice. Hudson issued a walk to Alfredo Amezaga and Dan Uggla plated Abercrombie with a single. Uggla and Abercrombie advanced a base on a fielding error by Atlanta left fielder Willie Harris.

After Hanley Ramirez was intentionally walked to load the bases, Miguel Cabrera plated Amezaga with a sacrifice fly to give the Marlins a 4-3 edge.

Hudson appeared to get out of the frame by striking out Jeremy Hermida, but Hermida reached after Atlanta catcher Brian McCann could not block a wild pitch by Hudson.

"I was trying to check my swing," Hermida said. "I followed the ball and it scooted away. Fortunately, it got enough away from him and I got on."

Aaron Boone followed by plating Uggla and Ramirez on the next pitch with a single to give the Marlins a 6-3 advantage.

"I was trying to get a ball up," Boone said. "He left a slider up. I didn't hit it real good, but got enough of it."

"At this level, giving teams an extra out hurts you," Hudson said. "I've got to do a better job of picking some guys up when things don't go well in the inning. It seemed like everything that could go wrong did tonight."

Hudson allowed six runs - five earned - and seven hits while walking three with five strikeouts in six frames en route to dropping his third decision in his last four games.

"I felt like we should have won this ballgame," Hudson said. "I didn't make pitches when I needed to."

Wes Obermueller (2-3) snapped a three-game losing streak by yielding three runs and eight hits in five frames. Pitching on three days rest, the righty struck out five and walked three en route to notching his first win since April 22 vs. Washington.

Taylor Tankersley tossed a scoreless sixth and recorded the first out of the seventh. Matt Lindstrom finished the frame ahead of Armando Benitez, who worked a scoreless eighth. Kevin Gregg allowed a home run to Edgar Renteria in the ninth but still recorded his eighth save.

Atlanta took a 1-0 lead in the first on a two out single by Brian McCann. Hudson helped himself at the plate with a two-out RBI double in the third to give Atlanta a 2-1 edge.

But it was poor Atlanta defense that sealed Atlanta's fate in this one.

Cabrera lead off the second with a drive down the right field line, which right fielder Jeff Francouer made an ill-advised dive on and the ball got past him for a triple. Cabrera later scored on a single by Hermida.

In the third, Uggla lofted a fly ball into the right field corner, which the Atlanta right fielder midjudged into a double. Uggla advanced to third on a single and scored on a fielding error by Francoeur.

"Those two errors kind of hurt us, the one by me and the one by Francoeur," Harris said. "Both errors were mental errors. Both errors were trying to stop runs. They were aggressive errors. But if you are going to make them, make them at 110-percent."

Rookie Yunel Escobar collected four hits and smashed his first major league homer in the fourth for the Braves, who have lost four straight at Turner Field.