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Maholm pitches six innings of one-run ball

It's been quite a turnaround for Cubs left-hander Paul Maholm.

After lasting only four innings in each of his first two starts, Maholm goes for his fourth straight victory Wednesday in the rubber game of a three-game series against the Braves at Wrigley Field.

Maholm has a 1.47 ERA and .179 batting average against in his last three outings and credits the difference to better execution and location, which are two keys for a ground-ball pitcher.

"My goal is to get the first guy out in the inning and keep it at three pitches or less and get a bunch of ground balls," Maholm said after his last start. "In the last few games, I've gotten a bunch of ground balls."

Maholm looks to continue his recent success against the Braves -- who he has a 1.58 career ERA against -- and right-hander Tim Hudson, who is making his third start of the season.

Hudson is coming off a rocky last start in which he allowed five first-inning runs at Coors Field before the offense came back for an extra-innings win. The 36-year-old right-hander has had plenty of success in his career against the Cubs -- 2-0, 3.94 ERA -- and at Wrigley Field, where he has a 2.91 ERA in three career starts.

Braves: Sveum impressed with Jones' longevity
• Cubs manager Dale Sveum played until he was 35 and is impressed with Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, who is still going strong at 40.

"I think I could've kept going if I didn't blow my back out. My back was the determining factor to where I couldn't run and bend down at the same time," Sveum said when asked if he could have kept playing. "I could still swing the bat. I couldn't do any extra work or do anything with my back. Everything else was fine. My back finally gave out -- the herniated disk didn't work any more.

"I think most guys when you get to that age -- I played 18 years and you take that many swings, the back for a lot of people is the thing that goes."

• Outfielder Jason Heyward has a .367 average with four home runs, 10 RBIs and seven runs scored in nine career games at Wrigley Field.

• Outfielder Michael Bourn has a 12-game hitting streak in which he's batting .352.

Cubs: Hot corners
• First baseman Bryan LaHair has reached base safely in 26 straight games -- the longest streak for a Cubs first baseman since Derrek Lee's 30-game streak in 2009 -- while third baseman Ian Stewart is hitting .320 with a double, two homers and three RBIs in his last eight games.

• Right-hander Ryan Dempster struck out seven in Tuesday's win and now has 1,801 career strikeouts.

Worth noting
• Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano is hitting only .171 (6-for-35) in his career against Hudson, but three of his six hits have been home runs.

• The Braves have won the last three season series against the Cubs, going 4-2 in 2009 and 2010 and 4-3 in '11.

• Five of the Cubs' eight wins at Wrigley Field have been come-from-behind victories.

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