Sat May 17 22:27:21 2008

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Harden, A's get by Hudson, Braves

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Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Ryan Sweeney smacked a three-run homer and Rich Harden out-pitched former teammate Tim Hudson as Oakland held on for a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the second meeting of a three-game interleague set at Turner Field.

Jack Cust drilled a solo home run and Daric Barton scored, knocked in a run and walked three times to help Oakland snap a four-game slide.

In just his second start since being activated from the disabled list, Harden (2-0) tossed a gem, surrendering a lone run on four hits while striking out eight through seven innings.

Hudson (6-3) didn't have nearly as much success in his five-inning start, allowing five runs on five hits and five walks. The right-hander spent his first six years in Oakland before being acquired by Atlanta in December 2004.

Mark Teixeira went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Yunel Escobar knocked in a run for Atlanta, which has alternated wins and losses for the past seven games.

The Braves managed to put together a rally in the ninth with Jeff Francoeur, Kelly Johnson and Gregor Blanco each knocking in consecutive runs off Oakland reliever Huston Street.

The Braves could get no closer, however, as Street fanned Greg Norton to end the game.

With two outs in the first, Cust unloaded on a knee-high fastball, blasting the offering to straightaway center field an estimated 430 feet for his fifth homer of the season.

Oakland added three in the second frame thanks to heads-up base running by Barton. After the first baseman led off with a walk, Kurt Suzuki dribbled a ball to second for a tailor-made double play. But rather than flip to the bag, Johnson went for the tag. Barton ducked the attempt, and Suzuki beat out Johnson's throw to first.

The mistake hurt the home team three pitches later when Sweeney connected on a round-tripper to right off Hudson, who had given up just one home run in his first nine starts of the season.

The A's pushed the lead to 5-0 in the third after Hudson walked Barton with the bases loaded. The former Athletic walked four in the frame, but a 1-2-3 double-play ball kept the damage to one run.

Harden allowed just two hits through the first four innings, but Atlanta got one back in the fifth with Escobar knocking in Blanco, who worked a two-out walk.

In the ninth, Teixeira doubled, Brian McCann singled and Francoeur hit into a fielder's choice for an RBI. Johnson tripled and then scored on Blanco's sacrifice fly.

Game Notes

Hudson came into the game 3-0 with a 0.78 ERA in May. His struggles in interleague continue, as he entered the contest 0-8 with a 7.32 ERA against the AL since switching leagues. He has now pitched against all 30 major league teams in his career...Braves reliever Phil Stockman, in his first big league appearance since June 23, 2006, threw a perfect ninth...Sweeney's last home run before Saturday occurred on May 12, 2007...The Athletics are 114-82 all- time against the National League, while Atlanta is now 96-87 versus clubs from the AL...Keith Foulke threw a scoreless eighth for Oakland.