Braves stop Cubs 9-5, snap streak

Atlanta had been held to one run in four of its last five losses.

ATLANTA (AP) — Peter Moylan pitched three scoreless innings in relief of injured starter Tim Hudson, and the Atlanta Braves ended a four-game losing streak with a 9-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night.

Hudson limped off the field in the third inning after he was hit on his left leg by Jacque Jones’ sharply hit grounder. The right-hander limped slightly as he walked off the field with a bruised leg. X-rays were negative, and his status for his next start was not immediately known.

Moylan (2-1) came in and allowed no hits and walked one for the win. Edgar Renteria homered and drove in four runs, and Andruw Jones added a two-run homer for the Braves.

Atlanta had been held to one run in four of their last five losses, including back-to-back losses in the first two games of the series with the Cubs.

Chippy start

One night after Alfonso Soriano hit the first pitch of the game for his first of three home runs, Hudson hit Soriano with a first-pitch fastball under Soriano’s left shoulder.

Plate umpire Tim Tschida issued warnings to both benches, prompting Cubs manager Lou Piniella to emerge from the dugout — apparently to ask why his team should receive a warning.

Tschida issued another warning when Moylan hit Cubs reliever Sean Gallagher with a pitch in the fourth. Again, Piniella complained, but this time he didn’t leave the bench.

If Hudson was trying to send a message by hitting Soriano, it might not have meant much. The Cubs scored four runs in the first inning, including Derrek Lee’s run-scoring single and Mark DeRosa’s bases-loaded two-run single.

Mike Fontenot, who started at second after his call-up from Triple-A Iowa, drove in Jones with a single for a 4-0 lead.

Cubs starter Jason Marquis (5-3) gave up Jones’ two-run homer in the first and was knocked out of the game in Atlanta’s four-run second inning.

Marquis gave up four hits and six runs, two earned, in 12⁄3 innings.