Mulder gets best of Hudson

ATLANTA - Albert Pujols looked about as ordinary as he could in three of his four at-bats Friday against the Braves.

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But the Cardinals' first baseman was his superstar self in the other plate appearance.

Pujols' opposite-field, two-run home run in the fifth inning proved the difference in St. Louis' 6-5 victory at Turner Field in front of 33,833 fans.

The homer came off Atlanta starter Tim Hudson, whose anticipated battle with former Oakland teammate Mark Mulder wound up a dud, an American League-esque slugfest that paid homage to their old days by the bay.

Hudson, who took his first loss as a Brave, gave up six runs in six innings. Mulder, only slightly better, went seven and gave up five runs.

"I think both of us can say we're not very happy with our starts," said Hudson, who played with Mulder from 2000-04.

The Braves trailed the entire game, but had the tying and winning runs on second and first in the ninth with none out. Raul Mondesi, Chipper Jones and Eddie Perez, however, failed to do anything to alter the game's outcome.

"I'm not going to complain about that game," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "We played about as good as we could."

Jones came off the bench for a chance at a heroic pinch hit. He's been out of the lineup since Sunday because of a bruise on the bottom of his left foot.

Heroism was foiled, though, when he popped out to Pujols, who caught the ball in foul territory against the railing of the Braves' dugout.

Hudson and Mulder had joked a lot this week about what it would be like to hit against one another.

And, as they figured, they looked horrendous in the batter's box against each other. In his first at-bat, Hudson struck out on three pitches. He wildly flung the bat at the third strike, sending the lumber into the first row behind the Cardinals' dugout.

"He made me look like a little girl," Hudson said.

Turns out they should have been more concerned about how they pitched against the rest of their opponent's lineup.

Reach Travis Haney at travis.haney@morris.com.