LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. – Atlanta Braves’ right-hander Tim Hudson turned in 5.2 innings of one-run baseball in his final rehab outing, leading the Gwinnett Braves to a 5-4 win over Charlotte on Tuesday night at Coolray Field.  Hudson improved to 2-0 in his two starts with Gwinnett, helping the IL South Division-leading G-Braves snap a two-game losing streak.

Hudson cruised through 5.0 scoreless innings before finally surrendering a run in the sixth.  With Gwinnett leading 2-0, the Knights closed the deficit to a run as Josh Phegley led off the frame with a triple and scored on a single by Jordan Danks.  Charlotte threatened to even the score as Greg Golson reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to third, but right-hander Jaye Chapman (H, 1) came on and stranded Golson on a deep fly-out by Tyler Kuhn that was retrieved by left-fielder Jose Constanza.

Hudson (W, 2-0) finished with a run on six hits over 5.2 innings.  The right-hander walked two and struck out four, throwing 110 pitches, 68 for strikes.

“It was good to get going and cruise for a little while,” said Hudson, following the outing.  “It was nice to get into some jams and work out of them, even though they scored a run (in the sixth).  It gives you a gauge of where you are when your back is to the wall a bit, that’s what it’s all about.  Making pitches in tough situations, and that’s going to determine whether you win a lot of games or not.”

The G-Braves supported Hudson with a run in the second inning as Stefan Gartrell walked and scored on a one-out single up the middle by Josh Wilson.  Gwinnett threatened for more in the inning, but Charlotte left-hander Charlie Leesman escaped a one-out, runners-at-the-corners jam by starting a 1-3-2 double play.  Jordan Parraz was thrown out at the plate by Knights’ first-baseman Hector Gimenez to end the inning.

The lead grew to 2-0 in the fifth as Parraz singled, took second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a single by Wilson and scored on Boscan’s fielder’s choice.  Leesman (L, 1-2) exited after 6.0 innings, having allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits for the Knights.

A three-run G-Braves’ seventh inning built the lead to 5-1.  With right-hander Brian Omogrosso on to replace Leesman, Parraz again singled and advanced to second on a passed ball.  Following strikeouts by Wilson and Boscan, Luis Durango smashed a double down the left-field line scoring Parraz.  Constanza followed with a double to left-center, scoring Durango.  Ernesto Mejia increased the lead to four with a single scoring Constanza.

Still, the Knights would not go quietly.  After 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings from right-hander Anthony Varvaro (H, 1), right-hander Adam Russell struggled through two-thirds of the ninth.  Russell loaded the bases and allowed a two-run single to Gimenez, cutting the lead to 5-3.  Left-hander Dusty Hughes came on and got what could have been the final out, but second-baseman Drew Sutton misfired on a throw to first for a run-scoring error.  After a walk to re-load the bases, Hughes (S, 2) finally escaped the jam with a grounder to Wilson at short for a game-ending fielder’s choice.

Parraz (3-for-4, two runs) and Wilson (3-for-4, RBI) each finished with three-hit nights for the G-Braves, while Parraz extended his hitting streak to seven games as a result.  Mejia went 1-for-4 with an RBI to extend his on-base streak to 17-straight games.  Sutton saw his hitting streak snapped at 11 games, going 0-for-2 with two walks on the night.

Gimenez finished 2-for-5 with two RBI to lead the way for the Knights.

The Gwinnett Braves (13-6) continue their three-game series with the Charlotte Knights (10-9) on Wednesday night at Coolray Field, first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM.  Right-hander Eric Junge (2-1, 4.50) is slated to start for the G-Braves, while the Knights will counter with right-hander Terry Doyle (0-1, 4.96).