Tampa Bay @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 16, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 2, Atlanta 6

Tim Hudson has owned the Tampa Bay Rays.

Of course, he was a different pitcher then, a power arm for the Oakland A's. And the Rays have evolved a bit, too, as evidenced by their holding a share of the best record in baseball.

Nonetheless, Hudson and the Atlanta Braves hope it will be just like old times when a pair of first-place teams wrap up their three-game series Thursday night at Turner Field.

The resurgent Hudson takes the mound hoping to continue his dominance against Tampa Bay and help the Braves avoid losing a series for the first time since May 7-9 at Philadelphia.

Hudson is 6-1 with a 2.85 ERA in 10 career starts against the Rays, but he hasn't faced them since 2004, when Tampa Bay was still four years away from its first winning season.

Things have changed quite a bit since then for the Rays, who have a division title and an American League pennant to their credit and are tied with the Yankees for the best record in the majors entering Thursday's action.

Things have changed for Hudson, too. The veteran right-hander is no longer the power pitcher he once was, but he has been as effective as ever in his return from Tommy John surgery.

Hudson (6-2, 2.43 ERA) hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of his 13 starts this season, and his five wins from May 1 to June 1 were a big part of Atlanta's quick turnaround after a rough first month of the season.

He has been hampered by poor run support at times, though. The Braves have scored a total of one run in his two losses, including Friday at Minnesota, when Hudson held the Twins to two runs on seven hits in an eight-inning complete game but was on the losing end of a 2-1 decision.

The Braves' offense bounced back quickly from a frustrating performance in Tuesday's game, in which they left 14 men on base and went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Atlanta was 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position in Wednesday's 6-2 win, and the Braves scored four of their runs with two outs.

First baseman Troy Glaus was responsible for two of them, giving him 25 two-out RBIs this season. Glaus has driven in 51 runs overall, including an NL-best 42 since May 1.

Braves second baseman Martin Prado went 3-for-5 Wednesday, running his NL-leading hit total to 95. Prado has 31 multi-hit games and is 14-for-27 in the past six games.

Handling Glaus and Prado will be two of the biggest keys for Rays starter James Shields, who has been hit hard at times while losing his last four starts. During that stretch, he has an 8.37 ERA and opponents have hit .337 against him.

Shields (5-5, 4.55 ERA) was bombed for 10 runs on nine hits in his last start, lasting only 3 1/3 innings in a 14-9 loss to Florida on Friday.

After a big offensive night Tuesday, the Rays cooled off Wednesday against Tommy Hanson and two Braves relievers. Tampa Bay managed only five hits, and second baseman Sean Rodriguez saw his hitting streak snapped at 15 games with an 0-for-4 night.