THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI - Tim Hudson threw as hard as he could, and for the Atlanta Braves, the result was doubly troublesome.
Hudson's fastball hit only 85 mph. And Mike Jacobs hit it over the wall.
With Hudson unable to generate his normal velocity, the Florida Marlins took advantage and beat the struggling Atlanta Braves 6-5 Wednesday night.
Hudson departed after only three innings trailing 4-1.
"I felt all right physically," he said. "I just couldn't get anything behind the ball. It was a weird feeling. My heater's usually a lot better than that."
Hudson (2-1) endured his first poor start of the season, allowing six hits. Manager Bobby Cox pulled the right-hander after only 58 pitches.
"It was just one of those nights when his arm was kind of dead," Cox said. "I thought it might be a good time to give him a break."
The Braves lost their third in a row and fell to 0-7 in one-run games. They're 2-7 on the road.
"How does the saying go? 'You can't win the division in April, but you can lose it,'" left fielder Matt Diaz said. "We have to make sure we don't do that."
Mark Hendrickson (3-1) won his third start in a row for surprising Florida. Jacobs hit his sixth home run, and Luis Gonzalez added a two-run pinch-hit homer, his first since 1992.
The Marlins are last in the NL in ERA but 9-0 when scoring at least four runs. They lead the NL East despite the lowest payroll in the majors.
"It's a good win for us," Gonzalez said. "It keeps us rolling. We beat a pretty good pitcher tonight."
Hudson usually throws in the low 90s, but his fastball stayed in the 84- to 86-mph range. Cox and his staff, already dealing with a wave of injuries, kept asking Hudson if something was wrong.
"I didn't know what to tell them," Hudson said. "Nothing was hurting. … Next time I'll throw harder."
Hudson said his problem may have been a recent bout with the flu. He lost for the first time in seven career starts in Miami, where he had been 4-0. His ERA rose from 2.14 to 3.38.
Florida was nursing a 4-3 lead when newcomer Gonzalez homered in the seventh. It was only the second pinch-hit homer for the 40-year-old outfielder, who is a reserve this year for the first time in his career.
"He has been a tremendous asset in this clubhouse, the way he carries himself," Hendrickson said. "For the young guys to see what his bat did there in a pinch-hit role is another way for him to be a teacher."
