PITTSBURGH — Tim Hudson showed again that a well-pitched game is the easiest and best way to end an extended streak. Or, on this day, a number of streaks.

Hudson limited Pittsburgh to two hits and an unearned run over seven innings and the Atlanta Braves halted their seven-game road losing slide with an 8-1 victory that concluded Monday's doubleheader.

In the opener, Freddy Sanchez hit a three-run double and Zach Duke pitched six shutout innings as the Pirates won 5-0 for their sixth consecutive win.

With Mark Kotsay and Brian McCann driving in three runs each, Atlanta avoided its first four-game sweep by Pittsburgh since Sept. 1-3, 1978. The Pirates' winning streak was their longest since they won 10 straight from June 25-July 5, 2004.

"We were able to get a nice lead and I was able to relax," Hudson said after winning his third in a row, all with dominating outings. "I did a pretty good job of changing speeds off my fastball. When you get a lead, you can experiment a little bit."

Hudson (6-2) held the Pirates to a lone single over his final six innings, finishing with five strikeouts and two walks. Pittsburgh's only run came in the first on first baseman Greg Norton's error on Nate McLouth's grounder.

Hudson has permitted only two earned runs and 11 hits over 23 innings in beating the Reds, Padres and Pirates in succession, averaging nearly eight innings per start.

"He's a guy who's been doing it well for a long time. We had a chance to get more runs early and didn't do it," the Pirates' Adam LaRoche said. "But other than this game, it was a great 6-1 homestand for us. We finally put it all together."

Reds 8, Marlins 7

In Cincinnati, Jeff Keppinger and Brandon Phillips hit two-run homers in the seventh inning, breaking open a tied game and sending right-hander Aaron Harang to a long-awaited victory.

The Marlins arrived with a seven-game winning streak and the best record in the major leagues. Things looked good early, when they piled up three solo homers off Harang (2-5), including another one by Dan Uggla. Harang hadn't won since April 10, going 0-4 despite one solid performance after another.

Keppinger, the Reds' most consistent hitter, snapped a 4-all tie with his homer off Taylor Tankersley (0-1), who came in to start the seventh. Phillips later connected for his seventh homer.

Nationals 10, Mets 4

In New York, making his ninth start without a victory, Odalis Perez had three hits and two RBIs and pitched into the seventh inning to lead Washington.

On an unusually chilly night with winds gusting to more than 20 mph, Jesus Flores and Lastings Milledge each had two-run doubles and Washington ended a three-game slide by first taking advantage of wildness by Nelson Figueroa (2-3), then doing something they haven't been able to all season: get hits with runners on base.

Making his 200th career start, Perez (1-3) gave up a season-high 11 hits and four runs, but Washington scored at least four runs in one of his starts for just the second time this year.

Cubs 12, Padres 3

In Chicago, Carlos Zambrano won his fifth straight decision and Alfonso Soriano homered in a six-run fifth inning as the Cubs won their fourth straight.

Pitching with an extra day's rest after his start Sunday was scratched because of rainy conditions, Zambrano (6-1) allowed six hits and three runs in seven innings and also chipped in with his bat.

He doubled to start the Cubs' six-run outburst against Randy Wolf (2-3) and added a single in the sixth when Chicago tacked on five more runs.

Brewers 8, Cardinals 3

In Milwaukee, Ryan Braun hit two home runs for the second game in a row, and St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina and manager Tony La Russa both were ejected from the Brewers' victory.

Braun followed up Sunday's two-homer performance by hitting two more off stingy Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (3-2), who had given up four runs or less in his first seven starts and had a 2.25 ERA going into the game.

Brewers starter Dave Bush (1-4) gave up a run and four hits in six innings.