Hudson Beats Jackson In Battle Of Traded Pitchers
PHOENIX (AP) Daniel Hudson threw a three-hitter in his first career complete game and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat his old team, the Chicago White Sox, 4-1 on Friday night in the opener of their three-game interleague series.
Hudson (8-5) earned his eighth win in nine decisions since starting the season 0-4. The 24-year-old right-hander, in his second major league season, outpitched the player he was traded for last July 30, Chicago's Edwin Jackson. Hudson's RBI double with two outs in the seventh ended the night for Jackson (4-6), who gave up four runs on eight hits in 6 2-3 innings.
Paul Konerko's leadoff homer in the seventh ended a string of 18 scoreless innings for the White Sox, who have two runs total in their last three games.
Arizona's Justin Upton singled three times, his fifth straight multihit game. Upton, whose first career game-ending home run gave Arizona a 3-2 victory over San Francisco in 10 innings the Thursday night, singled in a run in the first inning, then scored from first on Miguel Montero's two-out double.
Upton has hit .591 (13 of 22) during that five-game span. He reached base for the fourth time when he walked in the eighth, then stole second.
Hudson retired 16 in a row after walking Carlos Quentin in the first inning. The streak ended when shortstop Stephen Drew had trouble getting the ball out of his glove after fielding Alexei Ramirez's grounder and his throw pulled first baseman Juan Miranda just off the bag.
The error marred an otherwise outstanding defensive game for Drew, who fielded 10 grounders flawlessly, several of them tough plays, and threw the runners out. He also caught a pair of pop ups. He also was part of the game-ending double play on a grounder to Hudson.
Drew singled in the first, took second when Jackson was called for a balk, then scored when Upton's singled. Montero's RBI double to the right field gap made it 2-0.
After Konerko's 17th home run of the season cut the lead to 2-1, Arizona got two more in the seventh. Ryan Roberts singled with one out, then after Jackson fanned Gerardo Parra, Hudson doubled to deep right-center to bring in the run. Left-hander Chris Sale replaced Jackson and gave up an RBI double to Kelly Johnson to put the Diamondbacks ahead 4-1.
Hudson, who came into the night averaging 105 pitches per game, threw a career-high 119, 82 strikes. Jackson allowed four runs on eight hits in 6 2-3 inning. He struck out eight with no walks but was called for a balk.
NOTES: Hudson is 15-6 in 26 starts since coming to Arizona. ... The White Sox lost only their third interleague game in their last 16 and are 41-17 in them since 2008. ... The Diamondbacks are 4-0 in interleague contests this season. ... Upton has 33 hits since May 29. ... Jackson fanned the leadoff batter Johnson three times.
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