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SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants manager Bruce Bochy expected good things from Tim Hudson. Hes getting even better results than he anticipated. Hudson threw seven strong innings and left with a major league-best 1.81 ERA as San Francisco avoided a four-game sweep, beating the Washington Nationals 7-1 on Thursday. "Ive always admired him from the other side, how well he competes," Bochy said. "I felt we were getting a front-line pitcher who will give us a chance to win on a consistent basis. Hes done all weve expected and even more." Michael Morse got three hits and scored twice for the Giants, who had a five-game winning streak before Washington came to town. The Nationals have lost just twice in 10 games. "Its not much fun playing the fourth game of a series trying not to get swept," Bochy said. "The guys did a good job of forgetting the first three games and went out and played well." Hudson (7-2) allowed one unearned run and six hits. He walked two, struck out five and improved to 3-0 in his last five starts, which includes a suspended game. The Giants are 7-0 in games Hudson has started at home. "We played good defence to keep me out of some jams," Hudson said. Blake Treinen (0-3) remained winless at the major league level despite a 2.08 ERA. He gave up two runs and five hits in five innings. "Im confident I can compete at this level," Treinen said. "But I still need to improve, especially the command of my fastball." Pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez had a two-run single for the Giants. Ryan Zimmerman drove in a run for the Nationals. Jose Lobaton, making his third consecutive start behind the plate, added two hits. Hudson allowed two or fewer runs for the 10th time in 13 starts. He beat the Nationals for the 17th time, the most of any active player, in 30 starts. "I just try to go out there and give us a chance to win," Hudson said. "It doesnt matter than we lost three in a row or won three in a row. I feel like I put forth the same effort every time. When you have lost three straight to the same team theres more urgency behind it." Treinen, who replaced the injured Gio Gonzalez in the starting rotation, has pitched against tough competition. The four starters hes faced have combined for 14 opening day starts. "Hes done well and is working hard at every aspect of the game," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "He has that power slider, which is his go-to pitch. Working on the development of his other pitches is what is important." The Giants scored twice in the second. Morse singled, Tyler Colvin tripled and Brandon Crawford had an RBI grounder. San Francisco added two more in the sixth on a balk by reliever Craig Stammen and an RBI single by pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco. NOTES: Giants INF Marco Scutaro (back) was scheduled to start swinging a bat to see how hes progressing. "Hes looking forward to getting his rehab going," Bochy said. "He wants to start doing baseball activities." ... Gonzalez was scheduled to make one last rehab start Thursday before rejoining the team. ... Washington RHP Jordan Zimmermann (5-2, 3.17) starts at St. Louis on Friday night. He is 0-4 in seven starts against the Cardinals. ... RHP Tim Lincecum (5-4, 4.97) will start for the Giants when the Colorado Rockies come to town for a three-game series beginning Friday. James Harden Jersey . Amare Stoudemire had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Carmelo Anthony scored 21 and the New York Knicks won their eighth straight game, 93-92 over Philadelphia on Friday night, sending the Sixers to their 23rd straight loss. Hakeem Olajuwon Jersey . The club was unable to retain hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, who is bound for Atlanta. Seitzer replaces Greg Walker, who was assisted by Scott Fletcher this season as the Braves finished 79-83. http://www.therocketsofficial.com/Authen...Rockets-Jersey/. Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years. Houston Rockets Jerseys .James scored 29 points, including 16 in the first quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers broke a four-game losing streak with a 106-74 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. PJ Tucker Jersey . The two-time former Formula One champion downplayed his third-place finish three weeks ago in China and said progress is going slow for Ferrari as it tries to make up ground on Mercedes.For the last couple of weeks, there has been a strange and somewhat sad story unfolding in the Philadelphia Phillies camp. Jimmy Rollins, who should go down as one of the all-time great Phillies, is being questioned about his attitude and whether he is hurting the franchise by refusing to allow himself to be traded. Rollins is 35 years old and has played in Philadelphia his entire career. Hes a three-time All-Star and a four-time Gold Glover. He won a Silver Slugger Award and was named the National League MVP in 2007, in addition to winning a World Series with the Phils in 2008. Rollins has one year, plus a vesting option for another year, left on his contract. He is a "5/10" man, that is, he has played 10 years in the Majors and five consecutive years with his current team, so he has the power to veto any trade. Its no secret that the Phillies are an older, veteran team that may have one more shot at glory or, more likely, is heading for a blow-up and a major rebuild. Rollins, perhaps bothered or jaded by the teams struggles the past couple of years, was accused in so many words of not hustling enough or providing enough leadership. At one point, his previous manager, Charlie Manuel, benched him to send a message and this spring, his current manager, Ryne Sandberg, sat Rollins for three days after he said that spring training games were basically meaningless. The Detroit Tigers need a shortstop since Jose Iglesias is likely gone for the season with stress fractures in both of his legs. Rumours began that the Phils might try to deal Rollins to the Tigers. Rollins responded by saying he is unmovable because, at this time, he doesnt want to go anywhere. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. angrily shot down the rumours, saying there never was any talk of trading Rollins in the first place. One of Rollinss motives for wanting to stay in Philly is his pursuit of the franchises all-time hits record. He needs just 60 more to break Hall of Famer Mike Schmidts mark of 2234. Rollins is fourth on the list right now behind Schmidt, Richie Ashburn and Ed Delahanty. Even with a subpar season, Rollins will pass all three as long as he stays healthy. Jimmy Rollins is accused of being selfish for not allowing a trade for the good of the franchise. In Toronto, Mats Sundin and Carlos Delgado took the same kind of heat from Leafs and Blue Jays fans when they refused to be dealt in the final years of their contracts. Rollins is already the Phils career leader in doubles, but the hits record is something special to him. As he put it, only 30 players in baseball can say they lead a franchise in base hits. Is he being selfish? Not if he gives everything hes got to the Phillies every time hes on the diamond. Rollins wouldnt be the first to hang in to attempt to reach a career milestone. Two of the greatest pitchers in Major League history hung in past their primes in order to reach 300 wins. Lefty Grove, in some pundits minds the greatest pitcher of all-time, came back in 1941 needing seven wins for 300. He won his 299th on July 2 of that season. Essentially down to being a once-a-week pitcher for tthe Boston Red Sox at that time, he didnt get number 300 until July 25 and it wasnt pretty.dddddddddddd Grove went all the way in a 10-6 victory over Cleveland giving up five earned runs on 12 hits. He never won again that season and called it a career on December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Early Wynn, Tom Cheeks original partner on the Blue Jays radio broadcasts, went 7-15 with the Chicago White Sox in 1962 and finished that season with 299 victories. He came back with the Cleveland Indians, the club with which he had most of his greatest seasons, in 1963 at age 43 for one last shot at number 300. On July 13, he finally got it , but hardly in grand and glorious style. Wynn left the game after five innings with Cleveland holding a 5-4 lead over the Kansas City Atheltics. Earlys roommate, Jerry Walker, took over and held KC scoreless over the final four innings. Wynn became the first pitcher to have won 300 since Lefty Grove in 1941. There was one other case that I can recall of a player hanging in to get a record. Carlton Fisk, then of the Chicago White Sox, broke Bob Boones all-time record for games caught behind the plate with his 2,226th on June 22, 1993. Six days later, in what was perceived to be a heartless move, Fisk was released by the club. Is Jimmy Rollins selfish? No less so than any of the above three Hall of Famers. As long as the effort and the desire are there, I say more power to Rollins. He has a contract and the rules of baseball say he cant be traded. The one last twist to this story: Mike Schmidt is an icon in Philadelphia and will be working on home-game telecasts on Sundays this season. There are a lot of Philllies fans who dont want to see him lose this record. Rollinss position in all of this reminds of the heat Roger Maris was taking in his successful pursuit of Babe Ruths single season home run record in 1961. Some never forgave him for hitting 61 in 61. Jimmy Rollins doesnt deserve to receive the same kind of scorn. If he breaks the record, hes earned it. - Its hard to get into the idea of the season opening this weekend in Australia. The Los Angeles Dodgers are taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks in two games before returning to Arizona for the remainder of spring training. The re time difference, the season effectively opens as a day-night doubleheader for us. The first game starts at 4am et/1am pt on Saturday morning and the second one at 10pm et/7pm pt on Saturday night. - One sad note out of the Blue Jays camp: the team released lefty reliever Luis Perez to make room for utility sluggerMatt Tuiasosopo, who was picked up on waivers from Arizona. Two years ago, Perez, for my money, was the best all-around reliever in the Jays bullpen. But then he blew out his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. Perez was supposed to be back this season like Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek, however, he had a set back in the offseason and needed further surgery to remove scar tissue. Now at 29, his career is in limbo. Heres hoping he can make it back all the way to the Bigs somewhere. ' ' '