Braves 7, Giants 1
Tim Hudson pitched seven strong innings for his seventh consecutive victory and Jason Heyward homered for the third straight game as visiting Atlanta beat San Francisco to earn a four-game series split.
Juan Francisco and Freddie Freeman also hit homers, Paul Janish smashed a two-run triple and Brian McCann had three hits as the Braves maintained their four-game cushion in the National League wild-card chase.
Hudson (13-4) allowed one run and five hits and improved to 6-1 on the road this season. He struck out three and walked one.
Atlanta set the tone by plating two runs in the first off struggling Giants starter Tim Lincecum (7-14). Martin Prado’s fielder’s choice knocked in the first one and McCann singled home the second.
Francisco made it 3-0 in the fourth when he drilled a Lincecum offering nearly 20 rows up into the bleachers in straight-away center field.
Janish’s triple into the left-center field gap off Jose Mijares made it 5-0 in the sixth.
The Giants got on the board in the seventh on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Brandon Crawford.
Heyward and Freeman clubbed back-to-back homers in the ninth. Heyward has hit six homers in 10 career games at AT&T Park.
Lincecum allowed three runs and five hits in five innings and matched a career-worst with his 14th loss. He struck out four and walked two.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Hudson went 2-for-3 to raise his season average to .233. … Giants OF Angel Pagan was hitless for the second straight contest following an eight-game hitting streak in which he went 18-for-35. … Atlanta 3B Chipper Jones (oblique) missed his second straight start but grounded out as a pinch hitter in his final regular-season appearance at AT&T Park. … San Francisco recalled C Eli Whiteside from Triple-A Fresno and optioned reliever Eric Hacker to the same club. … Braves 2B Dan Uggla was benched Sunday after going 2-for-28 over his previous nine games.