Hudson stymies 'Cakes in Memphis win

Dakota Hudson carried a shutout into the ninth inning and added a double at the plate, and Rangel Ravelo fell a double short of the cycle in leading the Memphis Redbirds to a 2-1 win over the New Orleans Baby Cakes on Saturday night.
Hudson (10-2) gave up five hits, struck out five and walked one and lowered his ERA to 1.94, tops in the Pacific Coast League. His 10 victories also pace the league.
Ravelo tripled with one out in the opening frame, only for Sandy Alcantara to wiggle out of trouble with a strikeout and a fly out. But Ravelo's eighth home run of the year to lead off the fourth put the Redbirds on top, and his single an inning later cashed in Hudson's first hit in 22 at-bats this season to extend the lead to 2-0.
Ravelo flied out to center in the seventh, coming up short in his bid to become the second Redbird to hit for the cycle, joining Mark Little in 2000.
New Orleans had just two at-bats with runners in scoring position against Hudson, when Magneuris Sierra reached on an infield double with two outs in the sixth, and consecutive two-out singles by Isaac Galloway and Austin Dean in the eighth were squandered when Sierra lined out to left.
Hudson was given the opportunity for his first career nine-inning complete game and shutout, but Rafael Ortega led off the ninth with a pinch single and Eric Campbell reached on an infield single, prompting the Redbirds to turn to the bullpen. Edward Mujica allowed a single to Tomas Telis to score Ortega, but recovered to strike out Peter Mooney for the final out with runners at second and third and nail down his seventh save in eight chances.
Alcantara (5-3) recorded a quality start despite suffering the loss, surredering two runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked four, one of which was intentional.
With consecutive losses, the Baby Cakes have fallen 8 1/2 games behind the first-place Redbirds heading into Sunday's series finale. First pitch is slated for 2:05 p.m.