McLouth Stays Hot in Second Straight Win for Braves Over Mets

Nate McLouth and Alex Gonzalez had two RBIs apiece, backing seven strong innings by Tim Hudson as the Braves took a second straight over the Mets, 4-2.

McLouth got the Braves rolling in the second on a RBI double that would have reached the stands in Atlanta. Jose Reyes answered with a solo homer in the third. The Braves came right back in the fourth with two runs on a double by Gonzalez. In the fifth, Luis Hernandez fouled a ball off his foot and broke a bone, but stayed in and hit a solo homer to cut the lead to one. The Braves remained on top by one until the ninth, when McLouth added an insurance run on a solo homer.

McLouth went 2-4 with a double, homer and two RBIs. He continues to be red hot, going 11-30 with three doubles, a triple, three homers and 11 RBIs in his last 10 games. If today isn’t reason enough to have McLouth in the lineup everyday down the stretch, then I give up. Gonzalez received a much-needed boost by going 2-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Derrek Lee went 2-4 and scored twice.

Hudson ended his skid by pitching seven solid innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking one and striking out seven. Both runs came on home runs on balls left on the inner third to lefties. Otherwise, Hudson’s command was great. He received 12 groundouts and three double plays. Jonny Venters pitched a scoreless eighth on eight pitches and Billy Wagner struck out the side in the ninth.

The Braves did fairly well against Dillon Gee, getting three runs on six hits in seven innings. They seemed to try and make me lose all my hair by swinging at bad pitches early in the count in the first few innings, but they righted the ship and got the necessary hits. Jose Reyes went 2-4 with a RBI on the home run, and Hernandez provided the other RBI on a home run.

The Padres and Rockies both won, keeping the Braves ahead of SD by 1.5 games and COL by 2.5. The Giants play later tonight. The Phillies will probably win again. Derek Lowe and R.A. Dickey face off Sunday at 1:10.