News
Hudson stretching out for stretch run
Veteran hurler aims for Sept. 2 return to Atlanta
By Jon Cooper / Special to MLB.com
08/23/09 6:14 PM ET
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- The possibility of Tim Hudson pitching with the Atlanta Braves in their push for a playoff berth took a big step forward Sunday afternoon at Gwinnett Stadium.Hudson threw six strong innings for the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves in their 10-5 win over Charlotte. The victory was his longest outing to date as he tries to complete his comeback from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, performed last Aug. 8. Hudson allowed only three runs, all in the second inning, and six hits, while striking out five and walking only one.
"I felt pretty good," said Hudson, who threw 89 pitches, 58 for strikes. "[Today] was probably the first time I felt really good with my fastball command. That last inning it kind of got away from me a little bit. When I was missing today I was missing pretty close to where I wanted to put it instead of before, it was missing across from the other side of the plate. So it was definitely a step in the right direction. I felt like I'm pretty close."
The only inning where Hudson, who was on an 80-to-90-pitch limit, struggled was the second.
After a 1-2-3, 10-pitch first inning, Hudson ran into trouble in the second frame. With one out, Charlotte scored three times on five hits in a six-batter stretch. Of the hits, only two were hit hard -- catcher Cole Armstrong's booming double to straightaway center and shortstop Andy Cannizaro's hit-and-run single to left. The other three singles were a bloop that fell in shallow left-center, an infield miscommunication and ensuing collision, and a dribbler up the middle. Hudson, who threw 27 pitches in the inning, took things in stride.
"I had a little bit of tough luck," he said. "I felt like I was making pretty good pitches. They did a good job of taking advantage of some situations and scoring some runs. I gave up some hits but I felt pretty good. I felt like the stuff I was throwing was pretty good throughout the game and I think it showed."
It certainly showed the rest of the way, as after the second, Hudson faced one batter over the minimum and retired eight in a row from the third through the first batter in the sixth. The only Knight to reach was left fielder Michael Restovich, who singled with one out in the third and walked with one out in the sixth, Hudson's only free pass.
Hudson nearly erased Restovich both times, inducing a 5-4-3 double play from Josh Fields in the third and nearly getting a 6-4-3 DP out of Fields in the sixth.
"My sinker was really good, my cutter was really, really good," said Hudson, who had only three three-ball counts, two of them in his final inning. "I threw some really good front-door cutters to righties and some pretty good backdoor ones to lefties.
"I can definitely see [a progression]. The most important thing is just sitting down in between innings and then going back out there and seeing how you feel when you get out there that next inning. I felt pretty good. My legs were pretty fresh under me toward the end of the game. I started getting a little bit tired at the end, but I guess that's what you want to do. That's part of the getting in shape and the learning process coming back from this deal."
Hudson, who now has a 1-1 record with a 3.86 ERA in his six rehab starts (10 earned runs in 23 1/3 innings), and has pitched to a 3.38 ERA for the G-Braves (seven runs in 18 2/3 innings), is scheduled to make one more start with Gwinnett, Friday night in Charlotte. After that, Hudson is scheduled to join Atlanta and make his first Major League start of 2009 on Sept. 2 against the Florida Marlins at Land Shark Stadium. Coincidentally, Land Shark Stadium was the sight of his last Major League game on July 23, 2008, when he pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and striking out six in Atlanta's 9-4 victory.
"I've kind of looked at the schedule and saw that's where I'm going to be if I stay on five days' rest," he said. "It's kind of ironic that that's where I might be, but I'll be so happy just to pitch another big league game that it doesn't matter. I guess I can exorcise some demons while I'm at it."
Jon Cooper is a contributor to MLB.com This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
