July 18, 2008 - Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves

WASHINGTON ~~STOLEN PROPERTY~~ NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES

Atlanta, GA - While attempting to explain why the season's first half was so disappointing, the Braves pointed to injuries and an inability to consistently produce timely hits. Coming out of the All-Star break, they've at least provided indication they can at least improve one of those areas.

Taking advantage of multiple scoring opportunities at Turner Field on Friday night, the Braves overcame Tim Hudson's rare struggles against the Nationals and claimed a 7-6 victory that included numerous clutch hits. Leading the way was All-Star catcher Brian McCann, who delivered a third-inning, three-run double.

Looking to get on a roll coming out of the All-Star break, the Braves used Brent Lillibridge's second-inning, two-out, two-run double as a spark. With a four-run third-inning against Tim Redding, they provided Hudson a 6-2 lead that seemed insurmountable given the fact that he was facing a Nationals team that he has dominated in the past.

But this wasn't an ordinary night for Hudson, who allowed five earned runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings. In his previous six starts combined against the Nationals, dating back to May 15 of last year, the veteran right-hander had surrendered a total of five earned runs. Most of the damage he incurred in this latest matchup came during the sixth and seventh innings, when he allowed a total of three runs.

Still, the Braves, who entered the game hitting just .222 with runners in scoring position and two outs, had built enough of a lead to allow Hudson to gain his 10th victory. Aiding their effort was the fact that they notched three hits in five at-bats with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Other than Lillibridge's double, the other clutch two-out hits were provided by Mark Kotsay, with a third-inning RBI single, and Kelly Johnson, who delivered a sixth-inning RBI single. The Braves ended up producing four hits in 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Game & team information
Date: July 18, 2008	Division: Major League Baseball / National League
Location: Atlanta, GA	Field: Turner Field
Attendance: 39,861	Starting time: 7:35 PM

Score
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nationals	0	0	2	0	0	1	2	0	1	6	11	1
Braves	0	2	4	0	0	1	0	0	-	7	8	0

Box scores / batting
Washington Nationals	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Willie Harris (CF)	4	1	2	0	1	0	1	.228
Paul LoDuca (1B)	5	0	1	2	0	0	4	.225
Cristian Guzman (SS)	4	0	1	1	0	0	1	.312
Austin Kearns (RF)	5	1	1	0	0	1	3	.205
Johnny Estrada (C)	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.163
Ronnie Belliard (2B)	4	0	1	1	0	2	0	.234
Kory Casto (3B)	4	1	1	0	0	1	1	.214
Ryan Langerhans (LF)	4	2	2	1	0	0	0	.222
Tim Redding (P)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167
Pete Orr (PH)	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.211
Jason Bergmann (P)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jesus Flores (PH)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.270
Charlie Manning (P)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Felipe Lopez (PH)	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.235
Washington Nationals Totals:	36	6	11	6	1	4	11

Atlanta Braves	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gregor Blanco (LF)	3	1	0	0	1	2	2	.254
Kelly Johnson (2B)	4	0	1	1	0	0	2	.271
Chipper Jones (3B)	3	1	1	0	1	0	1	.375
Mark Teixeira (1B)	2	2	1	0	2	0	2	.272
Brian McCann (C)	4	1	1	3	0	0	2	.301
Jeff Francoeur (RF)	3	1	0	0	0	1	2	.232
Mark Kotsay (CF)	4	0	1	1	0	0	2	.278
Brent Lillibridge (SS)	4	1	2	2	0	0	1	.262
Tim Hudson (P)	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	.132
Blaine Boyer (P)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Will Ohman (P)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Martin Prado (PH)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.271
Mike Gonzalez (P)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Atlanta Braves Totals:	30	7	8	7	4	3	15

Box scores / pitching
Washington Nationals	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Tim Redding	4	6	6	6	3	3	0	87 - 54	4.17
Jason Bergmann	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	27 -19	4.03
Charlie Manning	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	29 - 17	4.64

Atlanta Braves	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Tim Hudson	6 2/3	9	5	5	1	2	0	88 - 51	3.31
Blaine Boyer	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	10 - 7	3.86
Will Ohman	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	0	5 - 3	2.75
Mike Gonzalez	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	20 - 12	3.09