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. Cheap Hurricanes Jerseys Authentic . "Rob brings a wealth of coaching experience, having worked both in Canada and overseas in player development," Canada Soccer technical director Tony Fonseca said in a release. Wholesale Hurricanes Jerseys . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. http://www.cheaphurricanesjerseys.com/. Among the teams moves was trading one of the teams two third round picks, no. 83 overall, to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Bollig, a six-foot-two, 223-pound left-winger who had seven goals, seven assists, and 92 penalty minutes in 82 games last season. Cheap Hurricanes Jerseys . The midfielder had an operation on Saturday, and is set to miss seven Premier League games, the third round of the FA Cup and the semifinals of the League Cup. Cheap Hurricanes Jerseys China . PETERSBURG, Fla.BERLIN -- Schalke defeated Hannover 2-0 to maintain its perfect start to the year and consolidate fourth place in the Bundesliga on Sunday. Jefferson Farfan opened the scoring in the 39th, converting from close range after Sead Kolasinac outran Hannover defender Marcelo on the left. Farfan instigated Schalkes second goal five minutes later, playing through a brilliant ball for Atsuto Uchida, who cut back for Klaas Jan Huntelaar and he in turn left it for the better positioned Max Meyer to stroke home. Huntelaar headed over early in the second half and Meyer drew a good stop from Hannover keeper Ron-Robert Zieler as the home side came closest to adding to the scoreline. "I think we played very well," Meyer said. "Thats three wins from three since the winter break. I think the training camp together did us well. It brought us closer together as a team." Schalke opened a four-point gap over Borussia Moenchengladbach to consolidate the last Champions League qualification place, while Hannover remains 10th after Tayfun Korkuts first defeat as coach. "Its a shame we couldnt get a point here," Zieler said. Already without injured captain Benedikt Hoewedes, Schalke has further concerns after defensive midfielder Roman Neustaedter went off with a knee injury in the first half, while Uchida went down clutching his knee late in the game. Schalke hosts Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions LLeague round-of-16 tie on Feb.dddddddddddd 26. Augsburg continued its fine Bundesliga season with a 4-1 win at Stuttgart earlier Sunday, condemning the home side to its fifth consecutive loss. The visitors opened the scoring against the run of play in the 35th minute through Arkadiusz Milik and built on the lead when Halil Altintop sprung the offside trap for Andre Hahn to finish with aplomb in the 44th. Stuttgarts hopes effectively evaporated with Vedad Ibisevics sending off in the 53rd. TV replays showed the Bosnian striker struck out at Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Brackers face in an off-the-ball incident, leading the Augsburg defender to fall to the ground. Hahn scored his second of the game three minutes later for his ninth of the season. Konstantin Rausch pulled one back for Stuttgart in the 62nd, but Tobias Werner ended any hopes of an unlikely comeback two minutes later. Augsburg stretched its unbeaten run to eight league games and climbed to eighth, while Stuttgart is just two points off the relegation zone after its seventh defeat in eight games. "Its a difficult period. There were many negative highlights for us today," Stuttgart sports director Fredi Bobic said. "The first goal was the turning point. We had them under control for 30 minutes before that." Bayern Munich maintained its 13-point lead over Bayer Leverkusen with a 2-0 win at Nuremberg in the Bavarian derby on Saturday. ' ' '