This Time, It’s Mulder’s Win

When Tim Hudson took the mound in the first inning at Atlanta, he glanced over at the opposing dugout and spotted Mark Mulder.

“I kind of had a little chuckle,” Hudson said.

Considering all they had been through together, it was a natural reaction. But neither pitcher had much to smile about the rest of the night.

The former Oakland teammates were roughed up in their first starts against each other, but Mulder (3-1) managed to get the win when Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer that carried the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

“So much for a pitchers’ duel,” Mulder said sarcastically, having surrendered eight hits and five runs -- four earned -- in seven innings.

That was better than Hudson, who gave up four runs in the first and left after the sixth, saddled with a line that showed nine hits and six runs -- twice as many runs as he had given up in his first four starts for the Braves, covering 28 innings.

“Unfortunately, I wasted a great offensive night by my team,” he said.

Hudson (2-1) lost for only the third time in 100 starts when provided with at least four runs by his teammates. His record in those games dropped to 77-3.

Chicago 3, Houston 2 -- Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens lived up to the hype surrounding the first matchup of 300-game winners in nearly 18 years.

Maddux (1-1) got his 306th win and first since the Cubs’ 2004 season finale against Atlanta. He lasted six innings, giving up two runs and seven hits. He walked one.

Jeromy Burnitz went three for four, including a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning.

Maddux was lifted in the seventh for a pinch-hitter, and Michael Wuertz, Will Ohman and Roberto Novoa combined to pitch two scoreless innings before LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.

Clemens (1-1) pitched seven strong innings to hold up his end of the marquee matchup. He gave up three runs and seven hits and struck out four.

Washington 5, New York 1 -- Livan Hernandez (3-2) worked his way in and out of trouble for eight innings and hit one of the Nationals’ three solo home runs at Washington.

Jose Guillen delivered his team-leading sixth home run and Brian Schneider also hit one. Vinny Castilla had a two-run ground-rule double as the Nationals (12-11) avoided dropping below .500 for the first time since April 11.

San Francisco 3, Pittsburgh 2 -- Mike Matheny hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning and Brett Tomko pitched a four-hitter at Pittsburgh.

Tomko shook off a two-run fourth inning in which the Pirates got three of their four hits to win his second in a row after an 0-3 start.

Jason Ellison singled to start a two-run first against Mark Redman (1-2) and had three consecutive hits, giving him eight in a row over four games, until he struck out to start the seventh.

Florida 6, Philadelphia 4 -- A.J. Burnett pitched seven strong innings, Juan Encarnacion tripled, homered and drove in three runs and the Marlins held on at Philadelphia to win for the eighth time in 10 games.

Burnett (3-1) yielded two runs and five hits, striking out eight. He left with a 6-2 lead.

Milwaukee 4, Cincinnati 3 -- Lyle Overbay homered in his first two at-bats for the Brewers at Milwaukee. He hit a three-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the third off Brandon Claussen (1-2). He also doubled and walked in his fourth career four-RBI game.

San Diego 5, Arizona 4 -- Phil Nevin lined a single to left off Diamondback closer Brandon Lyon (0-2) with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 15th inning, driving in Xavier Nady.