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ATLANTA —Tim Hudson said August is the right time to make a move. Pat Angerer Jersey . Then the Atlanta Braves
right-hander went out and backed up his words. After two straight losses, the
Braves were heading in the wrong direction in the NL East, and found themselves
further behind the first-place Washington Nationals in almost six weeks. Hudson
ended the short skid, combining with three relievers for a five-hit shutout, and
the Braves beat the San Diego Padres 6-0 on Tuesday night. Martin Prado hit a
three-run homer, and Dan Uggla also homered for Atlanta. “Theres no one else Id
rather have out there than Huddy,” Uggla said. “Anytime we put him out there in
a situation where we need a win, hes going to come through.” Hudson (12-4)
allowed two hits and one walk in 6 2-3 innings and won his sixth straight
decision. “I saw him early in the Oakland As days, and thats as good as Ive seen
him,” said Padres manager Bud Black, referring to Hudsons first six seasons in
the majors. “He was on. No doubt,” Black said. “He was hitting the corners,
changing speeds. Got his grounders. ... This game was all about Hudson.” The
Braves began the day 5 1/2 games behind first-place Washington, their biggest
deficit since trailing by 6 games on July 5. Atlanta got back within 4 1-2 games
when Washington lost 6-1 at San Francisco later Tuesday. “Its not a huge focus,
but I would lie to you if I told you I did not keep up with what theyre doing,”
Hudson said of the Nationals. “I keep up with the wild-card teams, as well.” The
Braves are first in the wild-card standings. Jonny Venters, Luis Avilan and
Craig Kimbrel completed the shutout. Yonder Alonso led off the ninth with a
single off Kimbrel, but he was stranded at third base when Cameron Maybin took a
called third strike to end the game. After being held to five hits in a 4-1 loss
to Eric Stults and the Padres on Monday night, the Braves had 10 hits and broke
open a close game with Prados seventh-inning homer. Clayton Richard (9-12) left
the game trailing 3-0 after giving up two hits in the seventh. Prado hit a 3-2
pitch from right-hander Brad Boxberger over the centre field wall, pushing the
lead to 6-0. It was Prados sixth homer of the season and first since June 20.
Richard allowed five runs and nine hits in 6 1-3 innings. The Padres lost for
only the third time in 11 games. “A few pitches away from pitching well, I
think,” Richard said. And having a tough assignment against Hudson didnt help,
either. “You know you have to really be on your game,” Richard said. San Diegos
only baserunner through four innings came on Chase Headleys first-inning walk.
The Padres first hit off Hudson was Mark Kotsays single to left field leading
off the fifth. Hudson retired the next seven batters. Hudson rebounded from his
previous start when he gave up a season-high six runs in 4 1-3 innings of a
no-decision at Philadelphia. Richard, coming off a 2-0 win over the Cubs, gave
up a run in the first. Michael Bourn led off with a triple and scored on
Freddie Freemans groundout. Ugglas homer to lead off the fifth pushed the lead
to 2-0. The Braves added a run in the sixth on three straight singles by Prado,
Freeman and Chipper Jones. Hudson was pulled after giving up a one-out single to
Alonso in the seventh. Padres left-hander Tom Layne, called up from Double-A San
Antonio before the game, struck out Brian McCann, Uggla and pinch-hitter
Tyler Pastornicky in a perfect eighth inning in his major league debut. “It was
kind of an epic debut by him,” Padres catcher John Baker said of Layne. Layne
started the inning by striking out McCann on three pitches. “I had a lot of fun
today,” Layne said. “It was cool. It was surreal. “I dont know that Ive ever
struck out the side before.” NOTES: Padres LHP Alex Hinshaw was designated for
assignment. ... C Yasmani Grandal, on the 15-day DL with a strained right
oblique, took batting practice with the Padres before flying to San Diego on
Tuesday night. Grandal will begin a rehab assignment Wednesday with Class A Lake
Elsinore. ... Kotsay will receive $1.3 million in 2013 under his new deal with
the Padres, agreed to last week. ... Braves bench coach Carlos Toscas son Matt
performed the national anthem on his violin. ... Braves OF Matt Diaz, on the DL
since July 21, will have surgery on his injured right thumb on Wednesday. He is
expected to miss the remainder of the season. ... Braves LHP Paul Maholm will
face Padres RHP Edinson Volquez when the four-game series continues on Wednesday
night. Coby Fleener Womens Jersey .J. —With
Martin Brodeur nearing his 40th birthday and entering the final year of his
contract, this season at first had the look of a last hurrah for the New Jersey
Devils goalie great. Dwight Freeney Jersey . In a news release
Tuesday afternoon, the school said tests have determined the tumour removed last
week from Williams right kidney was an oncocytoma, which is a benign growth
often indistinguishable from kidney cancer on X-rays that doesnt spread like a
cancerous tumour would. http://www.shoptheindianapoliscolts.com/reggie-wayne-jersey
. Justin Verlander was commanding his pitches brilliantly on the mound. Anthony Castonzo Jersey . —No more end-zone
spikes for a while from Rob Gronkowski. Andrew Luck Colts Jersey . Canada let a late
lead slip away in their opening game against Russia and it looked like deja vu
as Great Britain surged in front in the fourth quarter after Canada had been in
control for most of the game.TORONTO – Standing just a few steps from the ice, a
pace or two away from the Marlies dressing room, Ben Scrivens is explaining the
intricate wiring of his thought process. Hes only a few months removed from a
bold 2011-2012 campaign which saw him post microscopic, league-leading numbers
en route to a surprising berth in the Calder Cup final. With those weighty
accomplishments however come expectation and this fall the sizeable expectations
are nothing less than a repeat of last season. Hes on the cusp of a job in the
NHL, but with that league locked out and looking hopeless, hes got no choice but
to raise the bar at Ricoh Coliseum and beyond that in Syracuse, Hamilton,
Peoria, Adirondack and wherever else. Searching for the proper analogy to
describe his way of thinking in midst of a critical third pro season, Scrivens
finally lands on baseball. “Whats your goal, a .300 average?” he asks
rhetorically. “Well yeah that can be your goal, it can .350, .250, whatever it
is, but youre not going into the game saying ‘Okay Ive got to hit a home run in
the second, you go into the game saying ‘I want to stretch out my at-bats, I
want to be selective with my pitches, dont swing at the first pitch. Its simple,
but its the only way that you can follow a plan is making it simple and
repeatable.” Scrivens is not the type to jot down goals on a sheet of paper,
crossing them off upon completion at the end of the year. Instead, hes the one
to lay all the puzzle pieces on the table, dissecting what patterns and
strategies will be necessary to ‘make whole the picture on the front of the box.
“If you focus on the process then youre not readjusting your goals every time
that youve achieved something,” he explained, sounding more like the author of a
self-help book than a promising goaltender. “You look at it in hindsight as
‘Okay, thats what I accomplished and this is the way that I accomplished it so
next year Im going to focus on these things again and hopefully try and
replicate and maybe become more consistent.” Admittedly “trying to minimize the
valleys and maximize the peaks” Scrivens aspires for a more stable approach this
season. A “huge proponent of a cyclical way of thinking” the 26-year-old
believes less in luck than in logic and reality, confident that the breaks of
the game will even out at some point. Hes inclined to stream-line his foccus
from save to save rather than a scoped out set of big picture ambitions and
clearly-defined objectives. Vick Ballard Jersey. . Watching the Alberta
native up close over the past two seasons, Marlies coach Dallas Eakins is
steeped in the pressure that surrounds his number one goaltender, the weight of
repeating and even exceeding last years success. But hes loath to run from it
and insists upon the same from Scrivens. “Listen, I dont like limits on anyone,”
said Eakins. “If you can run a six-minute mile, well lets go run a
five-and-a-half mile. If you can climb a mountain thats 10,000 feet, go find one
thats 12,000…I want these guys to push their limits. Even if he was MVP of the
season last year and we wouldve won the championship, I want him to be better
this year.” After last season wrapped up, coach and goaltender conversed and
ultimately concluded that Scrivens league-leading goals against average (2.04)
could have actually been lower. “Its something that our organization is very
proud about and Im proud of Ben individually for that and he should be proud as
well,” said Eakins of the mark. “But we look back at the season and he went
through about a four or five week-span where there was a bunch of goals he
definitely wanted back. He couldve been even lower there.” After three starts
this fall, Scrivens has allowed seven goals on 60 shots (.896 save percentage),
winning once and losing twice. Drawing near in his rear-view mirror are back-ups
Jussi Rynnas and Mark Owuya, the former posting a shutout in his first start of
the season this past Saturday. Scrivens wont consume himself with numbers and
remains glued to the process, but after swimming in the NHL waters for 11 games
with the Leafs last season, its clear that his mindset has altered slightly from
a year prior. With the lockout ongoing, however, his sights admittedly cannot
stray past the next save with the Marlies. “Obviously this year wouldve been a
different mind-set and a different approach for the season,” he said. “It
wouldve been less of a set yourself up for a chance to get called up and more of
a steal someones job, not that its available for the taking or its going to be
given to you. But I now have a little bit more experience at [the NHL] level and
a few more accolades down here. I feel like Im ready to make the jump and Ive
got to earn it at this point.” ’ ’ ’
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