• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Braves' offense explodes past Diamondbacks

Jul 30, 2007 - 12:24 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves' offense ensured they would not be beat with another walk-off hit on Sunday.

Tim Hudson pitched seven scoreless innings and the Braves scored in each of the first seven innings en route to a 14-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the finale of a three-game series.

Chipper Jones drove in five runs and Andruw Jones hit a two-run blast as Atlanta avoided the sweep and snapped a four-game losing streak.

Chipper Jones broke the game open in the second inning with a two-run double off Livan Hernandez (6-7) to give the Braves a 6-0 advantage. The 1999 National League MVP also had RBI sacrifice flies in the first and the fourth in his only other plate appearances.

Chipper Jones is hitting .364 (20-for-55) with one homer and 24 RBI in his career against Hernandez.

"We're aware of our success against Livan," Chipper Jones said. "I don't know if I've faced a guy more. Familiarity is a key. We know what to expect, we feel good about stuff and good things happen."

The Braves, who belted 19 hits, saw 12 different players record hits and 10 of them crossed the plate.

"This was a good way to end the road trip with a day off tomorrow," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "We've hit the ball good on this trip. We just had the one bad pitched game."

Hudson (11-5), who has won five straight decisions, yielded just three hits and a walk with five strikeouts. The righthander retired the final 11 batters he faced.

"He's got good stuff and he's out there to draw blood," Chad Tracy said of Hudson. "He's got conviction behind every pitch and he's a good athlete."

The 32-year-old Hudson has posted a 3-0 record with a 1.21 ERA in his last four starts.

"It's nice to come out and pitch with a lead like that," Hudson said. "It makes things a lot easier."

Andruw Jones blasted his 20th home run of the season - a two-run shot - into the left-field stands in the opening frame to give Atlanta a 3-0 lead. The 30-year-old reached the 20-homer mark for the 10th straight season.

Arizona took the first two games of the series in dramatic fashion after Tony Clark blasted an 11th-inning, walk-off homer in the first game and Conor Jackson provided the game-winning hit in Saturday's contest.

"This was much needed to say the least," Chipper Jones said. "It put a nice tidy bow on a bad couple of days."

Hernandez was tagged for eight runs and eight hits with three walks and no strikeouts over just four innings as the Diamondbacks' eight-game win streak ended.

It was Hernandez's first zero-strikeout game since June 20, 2006, when he was a member of the Washington Nationals.

"It was a really tough day," Hernandez said. "It's a day where you go outside and whatever you try it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. Whatever you throw they're going to hit - blooper, base hit, broken bat, whatever. You can do nothing with that."