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ATLANTA -- A routine part of the game, something every pitcher from Little League to the big leagues does without even thinking. Throw the pitch, catch the ball when its tossed back. Jhoulys Chacin messed up that simple task, handing the Atlanta Braves another unlikely win. Led by seven scoreless innings from Tim Hudson, the NL wild-card leaders posted their second straight 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies, winning both times with an unearned run. It was the first time in more than 28 years that a team triumphed that way in back-to-back games. "Its one of those crazy things, but baseball is a crazy game. A lot of weird things can happen," Braves second baseman Dan Uggla said. "As long as youve got more runs at the end of the game, thats all that matters." Juan Francisco, not exactly a speedy player, used his legs to score the only run in the second. First, he surprised the Rockies when he dropped down a bunt leading off the inning, reaching first easily. Uggla followed with a ground-rule double down the right-field fence, actually getting a bad break when the ball hopped over the fence. Francisco likely wouldve scored, but he had to stop at third. As it turned out, he scored anyway on a play that was even more stunning than his bunt. After a pitch to Brian McCann, Chacin (2-5) dropped a routine return throw from catcher Wilin Rosario. Chacin seemed to glance over toward third before making the grab, the ball bouncing off the side of his glove and winding up between the mound and second base. Francisco alertly spotted the miscue and took off for the plate, making it with a headfirst slide. "I thought I got it and I put my head down and I just missed it. Its inexcusable," Chacin said. "Its really embarrassing. Its something normal we do all the time. ... Its too late now, but well learn from that. You see what happened. We lost the game because of that one play." Indeed, that one play was enough for Hudson (14-5), who stranded eight Colorado runners. Peter Moylan and Eric OFlaherty combined on a scoreless eighth, then Craig Kimbrel got the final three outs for his 34th save. The Los Angeles Dodgers were the last team to win consecutive 1-0 games with unearned runs, pulling it off against the Cincinnati Reds on July 28-29, 1984, according to STATS LLC. "The game boils down to a throw-back to the pitcher," Colorado manager Jim Tracy said. "I dont know what the hell happened on the throw back. All I saw was the ball rolling off behind the mound and here comes Juan Francisco running to the plate. I couldnt believe it." Both teams squandered all sorts of chances to push across more runs, stranding nine runners apiece. The Rockies best chance against Hudson came in the third, when Dexter Fowler and Josh Rutledge led off with singles. Jordan Pacheco grounded out, moving the runners to second and third, but Rosario popped out to the shortstop and Tyler Colvin was thrown out after hitting a little squibber in front of the plate. Atlanta was even more wasteful. The Braves loaded the bases with no outs in the third, only to come up empty. Francisco struck out, Uggla flied out to left -- too shallow to bring home the run -- and Brian McCann popped out to shortstop, dropping his head in disgust as soon as the ball left his bat. In the fourth, Atlanta loaded the bases again, this time with one out. Same result. Jason Heyward flied out to shallow left, throwing down his bat in frustration, before Freddie Freeman popped up harmlessly on the infield to snuff out another threat. But the Braves will take a win any way they can get it. The previous night, they scored the games lone run on a throwing error. They wound up taking three of four from Colorado -- even after scoring just two runs over the final three games. "To win the last two like we did is nice for the pitching staff," Hudson said. "We can puff out our chests a little bit." Colorado rookie Jordan Pacheco went 0 for 2 with a couple of walks, snapping a 14-game hitting streak. Charlie Blackmon, on the other hand, went 4 for 4 -- the second four-hit game of his career. But he also made a baserunning blunder in the second after doubling with one out. Jonathan Herrera followed with a grounder to shortstop Paul Janish, and Blackmon took off for third. He was thrown out easily. Hudson was glad to get a helping hand from the defence. He struggled to command his curveball, which forced him to use more changeups and sinkers than he normally would. "It definitely wasnt my best stuff," he said. "I smoke-and-mirrored them a little bit." NOTES: Braves SS Andrelton Simmons headed to Class A Lynchburg to complete his rehab assignment. He could rejoin Atlanta as soon as this weekend for the series in New York against the Mets. Simmons, the NL rookie of the month for June, has been out since breaking a finger in his right hand on a headfirst slide July 8. ... RHP Rob Scahill joined Colorados expanded roster for the final month. He spent the entire season at Triple-A Colorado Springs, going 9-11 with a 5.68 ERA. ... Kimbrel was lugging five large boxes around the clubhouse before the game. They contained a bunch of goodies he ordered for his teammates from the All-Star game. His fellow relievers got All-Star gnomes, while everyone else received a grey T-shirt. Kimbrel also ordered something for himself: a baseball covered in 24-carat gold. jerseys from china . In fact, he couldnt have set the bar any higher. "Its championship or nothing," Malawsky said. cheap jerseys nfl . He is listed as day to day while he recovers from a rib injury he sustained while playing in the Czech Republic. http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnfl.com/ . 1 ranking from Maria Sharapova next week after Agnieszka Radwanska failed to win the Wimbledon title. cheap nfl jerseys . Goodrow scored a pair of goals and Miller had the eventual power-play winner late in the second period as Brampton doubled the Sudbury Wolves 4-2 in Ontario Hockey League play. cheap jerseys from china . Mitch Holmberg scored once and setup two more as Spokane defeated host Tri-City 5-2 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Newly signed Buffalo Bills defensive Mario Williams homecoming in Houston is set. And, as it turns out, former Bills running back Marshawn Lynch will be making his return in Toronto -- not Orchard Park -- this season. Those are among the key games to circle on the Bills regular-season schedule released by the NFL on Tuesday. Williams, who signed a six-year, US$100 million contract with Buffalo last month, will travel to play his former team, the Houston Texans, on Nov. 4. And Lynch will be joining the Seattle Seahawks in a trip north of the border on Dec. 16, for Buffalos annual "home" game in Toronto. Buffalos schedule is bookended by games against AFC East rival New York Jets -- the Bills open at the Meadowlands on Sept. 9, and close at Buffalo on Dec. 30. The Bills home opener will be against Kansas City on Sept. 16, and they are set to play one prime-time outing, hosting Miami on Thursday, Nov. 15. Its a schedule thats particularly heavy on travel in the beginning. Buffalo will be on the road to play seven of its first 11 games. That includes consecutive games out west -- at San Francisco on Oct. 7 and Arizona on Oct. 14. As a result, the Bills will close the season playing four of their final five at home, all in December, including their game in Toronto. This marks the second straight season that a bulk of Buffalos home games will come in the second half. Thats cause for concern because the team has traditionally had difficulty attracting fans to Ralph Wilson Stadium once the weather turns cold. The Bills failed to sell out their final three home games last year, all of them in December. Buffalo is coming off a free-spending off-season in which it added defensive ends Williams and Mark Anderson in free agency,, and re-signed receiver Stevie Johnson.dddddddddddd The additions have raised expectations for a team thats coming off a 6-10 finish and has missed the playoffs for 12 straight years -- the NFLs longest active drought. Buffalos bye comes on Oct. 28, Week 8 of the NFL season. The game against the Seahawks will mark Lynchs return after Buffalos 2007 first-round draft pick spent his first three-plus seasons with the Bills before being traded to Seattle. The game at Toronto will be the fifth and final of a five-year series the Bills reached with Rogers Communications to play in Canadas largest city and financial capital. The Bills are 1-3 in regular-season games played north of the border after a 23-0 win over Washington last year. The Bills were supposed to play a pre-season game at Toronto this summer, but that game has since been moved back to Orchard Park because of a scheduling conflict. That conflict proved to be a Bruce Springsteen concert announced last week and set for Aug. 24 -- the third week of the pre-season schedule when the Bills were scheduled to play in Toronto. The Bills and Rogers have both expressed optimism that an agreement will be reached to extend the series for another five years, and once again feature five regular-season and three pre-season games. Rogers paid the Bills US$78 million for the first series of games. The results away from Ralph Wilson Stadium have been mixed for the Bills, who have gone 3-3 in Toronto but are just 1-3 in regular season contests. Buffalo beat the Washington Redskins 23-0 in October for its first regular-season victory in Canada. The attendance for that game was 51,579, meaning none of the games have been a sellout. Rogers Centre seats 54,000 for football. -- With files from The Canadian Press. ' ' '
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