Hudson Gives Cox Birthday Present, Braves Blowout Bucs

Bobby Cox didn’t need a cake.

He got something he probably enjoyed more last night, Tim Hudson tossed eight solid innings and the Braves got their first shutout of the season. He gave up three hits, walked four, and struck out three Pittsburgh Pirates in the Braves win.

Rookie phenom Jason Heyward homered and drove in three runs to lead Atlanta to the 7-0 win in front of 22,000 at the latest stop on Cox’s farewell tour. The Pirates offense continued a flat stretch from the game before when they scored zero runs after the first inning. The shutout extends the scorless streak for the Pirates to 17 innings. It was the 16th blowout loss of the season for the Pirates. The closest the Bucs came to a run was when they left ’em loaded in the second on a Ross Ohlendorf groundout to Chipper Jones.

Heyward did it all for the Braves showing fans why Bobby Cox gave him an opportunity out of spring training. Heyward needed just a triple to hit for the cycle. The tough out of the night also proved to be Martin Prado who had a hit and scored three times for the red hot Braves. Ross Ohlendorf took the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings. He walked three and struck out three, as the Pirates fell for the fourth time in their last six games.

Box score, Heywards two-run blast, Heywards RBI double, and of course a key RBI single from Braves pitcher Tim Hudson 

Where de o’ go?  Garrett Jones, who is dominating in the month of May despite getting nothing to hit deep, and Bobby Crosby eked out the Bucs four hits. 

GI Jones:  The Tomahawk Choppers look to make it ten wins in their past 12 games at PNC Park tonight on a Garrett Jones action hero giveaway night.

A Tivo Reminder from RumBunter:  This Week in Baseball will have a Pirates feature on Fox at noon and MLB Network  tomorrow at 1pm

Back to even:  The Pirates are 4-4 in a 20 games in 20 days stretch.

Plan accordingly:  NO TV coverage tonight.

This video is quite good,  the White Sox fans brawl if you haven’t seen it click here.  Best Baseball Fan Haymaker Ever. 

When does it end?   New Bucs has his take on the latest Nutting bashing.  It’s based on a “scoop” Mark Madden has on his blog.

"*The Pirates organization is reportedly terrified that someone in the media has the goods on exactly where all that revenue-sharing, luxury tax and TV revenue is going. It’s not the appropriate destination.If that ever spills, and the documentation is unassailable, the MLB players’ association could protest. Ultimately, Major League Baseball could force the sale of the Pirates. Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle are stil waiting in the wings.The story is expected to break this summer. Who has the dope? Not me.Mark Madden Blog on WXDX"