July 17, 2011
PHOENIX -- Former ODU and All-CAA pitching standout Dan Hudson ('08) threw aa five-hitter, belted his first Major League home run and had a key two-run single, in leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
"I can't say enough," said teammate Ryan Roberts, who also homered. "The guy pitches, the guy hits, the guy pitches into the ninth inning now. He throws strong every time out."
Hudson (10-5) struck out three and walked none in his second complete game of the season. He also earned his first win since he beat Kansas City on June 23 and improved to 9-1 in 16 starts after beginning the season 0-4.
Hudson, the National League's top hitting pitcher connected against Ted Lilly (6-10) in the sixth, then singled in a pair of runs with two out in the seventh to make it 4-1.
The Dodgers intentionally walked Xavier Nady and brought in Blake Hawksworth before Hudson came to the plate in the important spot. But manager Kirk Gibson resisted any temptation to hit for his workhorse starter, who has thrown more than 100 pitches 15 times this season.
"I liked the matchup, honestly," Gibson said. "I know Hawksworth's good. Righties are better against him. But it's Daniel Hudson out there. The guy's very competitive. He's hitting over .300. ... And he wanted to finish the game."
Hudson's single between shortstop and third base raised his batting average to .359,with 12 RBI, three doubles (14-39) and a .513 slugging percentage.
"I think my pitch count was low enough to where he still trusted me that I had good stuff to go out there the next inning," Hudson said. "We had the lead. Maybe if we were down or tied he probably would have pinch-hit for me but was happy he had confidence enough in me to get the job done and go out there and finish the game."
Hudson retired his first nine batters and his last eight, striking out Aaron Miles to end the game. Hudson's first career complete game came on June 17 against the Chicago White Sox, who traded the Virginia native to Arizona last year.
Hudson's line drive just cleared the fence in left, and his teammates ignored him for a brief moment when he returned to the dugout.
"You hit one, that's great, but your first one you can't all of a sudden start getting high-fives," Roberts said. "You've got to earn your keep."
Hudson nearly escaped the jam after Juan Uribe fouled out to first. But Kemp scored on a wild pitch before Rod Barajas grounded out to first to end the inning.
Arizona pitchers have four homers this season. Hudson improved to 17-6 since coming to Arizona in the trade that sent Edwin Jackson to the White Sox.
Hudson, the three-time All-CAA pitcher is ODU's third all-time strikeout leader with 295 trailing only Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers ('04) with 427, and former ODU Major Leaguer and Hall of Famer Kevin Bearse ('87)with 325.