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Andruw Jones, Hudson pace Braves to victory

Jul 20, 2007 - 3:56 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Andruw Jones and Tim Hudson helped the Atlanta Braves end a three-game losing streak in a big way.

Jones continued his torrid hitting by homering and driving in three runs and Hudson tossed seven solid innings to power the Braves to a 10-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday in the opener of a four-game set.

The 30-year-old Jones continued his sensational July by smashing his seventh homer of the month and 19th of the season, a two-run shot with two outs in the first that put the Braves ahead for good. He also scored in the third and fourth frames.

Jones, who struggled mightily in June by batting just .143 (15-for-105) with four homers and 10 RBI, has been significantly better of late. The slugger is hitting .339 (20-for-59) with seven blasts and 16 RBI in July, raising his season average to .220.

"Baseball is the same throughout April, May, June, July, August," Jones said. "It doesn't matter. I just go out and do my job and help the team out as much as I can."

The 31-year-old Hudson (10-5) once again was dominant for Atlanta. The righthander allowed one run and five hits, walked one and struck out three en route to his fourth straight victory.

Hudson, who threw 58 of 93 pitches for strikes, improved to 90-1 in contests in which he has been given a lead of three or more runs.

"As a starting pitcher, you still want to go out there and throw zeros (up on the board)," Hudson said. "Just because you get a 10-run lead, you don't want to give up seven. You just want to go out there and pitch a quality start."

The Braves rebounded from a brutal three-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Cincinnati Reds in which they left 34 runners on the basepaths and recorded just seven hits in 34 at-bats with runners in scoring position. One day removed from not being able to get a crucial hit in a 15-inning loss, Atlanta got more than its share of big hits in this one.

"We were ready to play today," Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said. "We were that team we like to see tonight - lots of offense early, solid pitching, good defense. We're hard to beat when we put all facets of the game together. It just needs to show up more consistently."

The Braves scored multiple runs against Cardinals starter Mike Maroth (0-3) in three of the first four frames, including a five-run outburst in the fourth. Matt Diaz was instrumental in the offensive attack, belting a solo homer in the second and adding an RBI single in the third and run-scoring double in the fourth.

Needing a triple to complete the cycle, Diaz grounded out in his final at-bat in the seventh.

"(The cycle) has to cross your mind," he said. "I had zero triples this year. The odds were against me."

Chipper Jones went 2-for-3 and scored three runs, while Julio Franco also contributed in his first appearance for Atlanta since signing a deal on Wednesday. The 48-year-old veteran, who started at first base, capped the fourth-inning uprising with a two-out, two-run single that gave the Braves a commanding 10-0 cushion.

Atlanta was 7-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Thursday. Nine of the Braves' 10 runs were scored with two outs.

"It evens out," Chipper Jones said. "Tonight, we couldn't do anything wrong, especially with two outs."

The 29-year old Maroth, who lost 21 games in his sophomore campaign with Detroit in 2003, was tattooed for a career-worst 10 runs, 11 hits and three walks without a strikeout en route to losing his third straight decision since being acquired from the Tigers on June 22. The lefthander threw just 59 of 101 pitches for strikes in watching his ERA balloon to a gaudy 8.17.

"I never gave my team a chance to win," Maroth said. "I got down from the first inning, and it kept getting worse. Obviously, the goal of a (starting) pitcher is to go deep in the game and give the team a chance to win."

David Eckstein spoiled the shutout with a sacrifice fly in the sixth for the Cardinals, who lost for the second time in three games.

During the contest, St. Louis announced former National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter would be undergoing "Tommy John" surgery next week and will not return until sometime during the 2008 season.

"He was a major part of our rotation," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "We're more concerned for him than for us. He's a stallion, he's a prince. He eats his heart out when he has to miss one game. He'll have to fight a lonely battle.

"He's as good as anybody out there. We're going to miss him. Everybody knows what he means to us."