Hudson has his way in stopping Mets

NEW YORK —  Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox is happy with what he has seen from Tim Hudson this season -- a lot of the same stuff, over and over again.

Hudson (3-0) was dominant over eight shutout innings and Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer to help the Braves beat the New York Mets, 7-3, Friday night.

Hudson has yielded two runs in 29 innings this season for a microscopic 0.62 earned-run average.

“Yeah, same as his other starts he’s had,” Cox said. “Just shutout stuff again. He’s been in quite the groove so far this season. What you saw tonight was what he’s done in the past starts.”

Hudson retired the first 11 batters and didn’t give up a hit until Moises Alou singled to center with one out in the fifth. The Mets loaded the bases with two out but couldn’t score. They also threatened in the eighth, but Hudson got Paul Lo Duca to ground into an inning-ending double play.

New York had scored 28 runs in its previous three games but couldn’t do anything with Hudson, who said he can’t remember ever getting off to a better start.

“There’s really not much of a break in that lineup,” Hudson said. “They can go up there and really hurt you. I was able to go out there and make some pitches, set a tone early. We got a nice lead early, thanks to Chipper.”

The Braves led, 4-0, after three innings and scored three unearned runs in the seventh to break the game open.