CINCINNATI -- Battling flu-like symptoms, Mark Teixeira spent all of Sunday night trying to keep something in his system. As for the Reds pitching staff, they spent most of Monday night trying to keep Teixeira from hitting everything out of Great American Ball Park.

As he prepared for this series opener against the Reds, Teixeira smiled while truthfully saying the only thing he'd been able to eat over the course of the previous 24 hours was dry toast and eggs. A few hours later as he enjoyed a second consecutive two-homer performance -- one that led the Braves to a convincing 14-4 win over the Reds -- it wasn't too hard to guess what he's planning to eat on Tuesday.

"I think I'm going to have that for breakfast and lunch tomorrow," said Teixeira, whose six-RBI output was created by the three-run homers he drilled in the second and fourth innings. "Keep it up. Keep the winning streak going."

For the Braves, this 17-hit attack, which also included Brian McCann's third career grand slam, only equated to a second consecutive victory. But while watching Teixeira collect four homers and 10 RBI during this two-day period, they are realizing the profits they envisioned when they acquired this powerful switch-hitting first baseman from the Rangers at the trade deadline.

"He was a one-man wrecking crew," said Tim Hudson, who limited the Reds to three earned runs in six innings to earn his National League-best 15th win. "Maybe we should spit in his food everyday and make him throw up."

With both the Phillies and Padres idle on Monday, the Braves moved to within one-game of the National League Wild Card lead. They still trail the Mets by five games in a NL East race that certainly will remain interesting if Teixeira continues this power barrage.

Of course, they also need continued success from Hudson, who has now won nine consecutive decisions for the first time since 2000. While gaining a five-run lead before he threw his first pitch and an eight-run lead before he registered his fourth out made things a little easier, the right-hander still found himself battling most of the evening.

"Today wasn't exactly a smooth sailing day for me," said Hudson, who saw the Reds produce at least two baserunners in four of the six innings that he pitched. "But we had a lot of runs to work with and I was able to go out there and battle for six innings."

Hudson's battle was against a dangerous lineup in a ballpark that has been known to be even more dangerous to even the game's top pitchers. As for Teixeira's battles, they started with having to convince Braves manager Bobby Cox that even with all the vomiting he'd done on Sunday night, he still had some energy.

"When you [play with the flu], for some reason you get more focused, because you know you can't do everything you're used to doing," Teixeira said. "You're slower and your body hurts a little bit. So you focus and you're going to have nights like this."

Teixeira, who has actually produced a career-high seven RBIs twice, began his latest homer outburst with a three-run, second-inning homer off Reds left-handed starter Phil Dumatrait. Teixeira's second three-run shot came in the fourth inning against left-handed reliever Mike Gosling.

"Everything that matters is the wins," said Teixeira, who has hit .294 with nine homers and 24 RBIs in the 18 games he's played for the Braves. "Whether it's me stepping up or somebody else, we have enough talent in here to get the job done."

After Dumatrait issued a two-out walk to Andruw Jones to load the bases in the first, McCann made him pay with a line drive shot that landed just over the wall in right-centerfield. This set the tempo for the offensive eruption, which was capped when Jones drilled his three-run ninth-inning homer.

The only member of the Braves starting lineup not to register a hit was Hudson, who had to say goodbye to his five-game hitting streak.

"I let my streak slip away today," Hudson said playfully. "I had two or three pitches I should have driven. But I pulled off them a little bit."

While a batting title was never possible, Hudson did at least improve his Cy Young Award credentials. With wins in five consecutive starts, he's reached the 15-win mark for the first time since 2003 and set up the possibility of being a 20-game winner, like he was in 2000.

"I'm just going out there and giving us a good chance to win," Hudson said. "Hopefully we win every one of my starts. I don't care if I get the win or not. But if the team wins and we're ready to make the playoffs at the end of the season, that's all that matters."