The Tomahawk Times - Teixeira belts three homers, Braves pound Mariners 8-3

ATLANTA -- The weather is heating up in Atlanta, and so is the bat of Mark Teixeira. The Braves' first baseman hit three homers to help them take the finale of their three game set against the Seattle Mariners by a final score of 8-3.

It was the first multi-homer game for the Braves' regular clean-up hitter, who belted the first two left-handed against Mariners starter Carlos Silva (3-9). The final blast came in the seventh off Ryan Rowland-Smith.

Teixeira drove in four runs in became the first Braves player to hit three homers in a game at Turner Field. It is the second time in his career that Teixeira has connected for three homers in one contest, the last time coming as a member of the Texas Rangers on July 13, 2006 against the Baltimore Orioles.

The Braves tagged Silva for four runs on nine hits, including three homers, in just four innings of work. After going 3-0 in April, Silva has now dropped nine consecutive decisions since the beginning of May.

Brian McCann followed Teixeira's fourth inning homer with one of his own, giving him 14 on the season. The big day for Teixeira gives him 13 homers to go along with a team leading 55 RBI.

Atlanta made short work of Silva and the Mariners behind Tim Hudson (8-5), who earned his first interleague win since joining Atlanta in the 2005 season. Hudson threw seven shut-out innings and fanned a pair.

Seattle scored three times in the ninth inning against Mike Gonzalez, making his second appearance of the season and first since Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers. Two of the runs came on a home run by Mariners catcher Jeff Clement, his first of the season.

The Braves were without shortstop Yunel Escobar and third baseman Chipper Jones in the starting line-up for the second straight game. Both men are nursing leg injuries. Jeff Francoeur  was also out of the starting line-up, though he did strike out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.

Francoeur was hit in the hand in the ninth inning of Saturday's win over the Mariners, but Sunday's off-day was simply a schedule day of rest for the struggling outfielder. With just four hits in his last 33 at-bats, Francouer has seen his average dip to .246 on the season.

On Deck: The Braves will welcome the Milwaukee Brewers to town for a three game series beginning Monday. Jo-Jo Reyes will face Ben Sheets in that contest. Game time is set for 7:10 PM EST.