Major League Baseball

Hanson's gem sends Braves past Red Sox

Published Jun. 29, 2009 1:30 a.m. ET

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Tommy Hanson was very much aware of who he'd be facing in these two starts.

It didn't faze him a bit.

The big right-hander became the first NL rookie to beat the New York Yankees and Boston in consecutive starts, throwing two-hit ball over six scoreless innings, and homers by Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson carried Atlanta past the Red Sox 2-1 on Sunday.


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The Braves snapped a four-game losing streak and prevented a Boston sweep in a weekend series dominated by pitching. The teams combined for only nine runs in three games, and Hanson (4-0) sure kept it going, despite a bout with the flu that put his start in doubt even as he was riding to the ballpark with teammate Kris Medlen.

"I told Kris he'd better be ready to pitch," Hanson said. "I felt horrible waking up this morning. Driving to field, I didn't feel good at all. But once I got going, got my blood flowing, I felt a lot better."

The Red Sox would certainly vouch for that. They were limited to a pair of fourth-inning singles by the 22-year-old rookie, who has been compared to everyone from John Smoltz to Roy Halladay - after just five big league starts.

Hanson stretched his scoreless streak to 20 innings, including 5 1-3 innings against the Yankees on Tuesday. The Braves took that one 4-0, and didn't get another win until Hanson went to the mound again.

"If he was sick," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said, "I really don't want to see him when he's not sick."

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Hanson was the first NL rookie to pull off the Yankees-Red Sox double.

"Facing them and getting two wins is definitely awesome, especially back to back," he said. "It's definitely been fun. Hopefully we'll keep on rolling and keep winning some games."

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