Europa » n the development of his other pitches is

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. Bobby Orr Jersey .A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul. Steve Larmer Jersey . Claude Noel will be the man behind the bench when the team hits the ice of the MTS Centre to begin its inaugural season. http://www.officialblackhawksauthority.c...ersey-c-37/.The result meant Juventus will spend the winter break three points clear of Roma after the league leader beat Cagliari 3-1 on Thursday.Milan remained seventh ahead of the rest of the weekends fixtures, but was provisionally two points behind third-place Napoli in their duel for the final Champions League spot. Keith Magnuson Jersey . Burris threw for 247 yards in one half of a game -- on pace for a nearly 500-yard outing -- as the Redblacks downed the woeful Montreal Alouettes 26-10 in CFL pre-season play Friday night at Percival Molson Stadium. Chris Chelios Jersey . -- J.R. Sweezy was the one part of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line that had avoided injuries or having to change positions this season.The NatWest T20 Blast is always full of fun - and sometimes our pundits are on the receiving end! During the 2015 competition, Dominic Cork was shunned by a mascot, while David Bumble Lloyd found a novel way to keep Nasser Hussain quiet at Headingley.Nasser was also sledged by a young fan at Chelmsford, with the lad not quite placing Mr Hussain among the legends of Essex cricket! Elsewhere, Somerset favourite Peter Trego tried his hand at a bit of bird-spotting, while Middlesex man Nick Gubbins took an amusinng tumble in the field.ddddddddddddHit the video above to see the funniest moments of 2015 and then catch live coverage of Essex Eagles v Surrey, from 7pm, Friday, Sky Sports 2 as the 2016 competition gets underway.Click here to watch some of the best moments from T20 Blasts of yesteryear. Also See: WATCH: The Blast is back! WATCH: Top Blast moments Live cricket on Sky Get Sky Sports ' ' '