For third straight day, Hudson is perfect out of Nats bullpen

SAN FRANCISCO - It might have been cause for raised eyebrows, but Daniel Hudson was so matter-of-fact about it all, going about his business with no fanfare, that it was hard to find any fault with the strategy.

Hudson made his Nationals debut Saturday night in Phoenix. He returned to pitch Sunday afternoon at Chase Field. And then he was summoned out of the bullpen at Oracle Park for the bottom of the seventh Monday night.

It was the first time the veteran right-hander had pitched three straight days this season, for either the Blue Jays or the Nats. He did it only once last season with the Dodgers. But he wasn't the least bit worried about the workload.

"I felt great," Hudson said. "I usually just test it out when we go out to play catch before the game. And I told them I felt great to go. And not too-long outings the last couple days. So I told them: 'If you need me, I can go.'"

The Nationals decided they did need Hudson. After getting six shutout innings from Erick Fedde, manager Davey Martinez asked Hudson to pitch the bottom of the seventh and watched as he retired the side to preserve a 3-0 lead en route to an eventual 4-0 victory.

Hudson may have been making his third consecutive appearance, but he didn't have to work particularly hard to get through any of them. On Saturday he came in from the bullpen with the bases loaded and two out in the seventh and proceeded to strike out the Diamondbacks' David Peralta on five pitches. On Sunday he replaced the fading Patrick Corbin with two on and one out in the sixth and promptly retired two batters on nine pitches.

On Monday, Martinez actually let Hudson start an inning fresh, not needing him to pitch out of a jam. He took over after Fedde completed six scoreless innings and wasted no time retiring the side on 14 pitches.

So that's six total batters faced, six outs recorded, five inherited runners stranded and 28 total pitches thrown.

"He's been a godsend since we got him," Martinez said.

Hudson, now with his sixth franchise in 10 big league seasons, has blended right into a Nationals clubhouse full of veterans.

"They've been great," he said. "I think it's pretty easy as baseball players. We're all pretty similar guys. It's pretty easy to acclimate yourself into any type of clubhouse. As long as you're not too much of a ... whatever word you want to throw in there, it's pretty easy to acclimate yourself. And I don't think of myself that way. I feel like I can go in and mesh with any clubhouse, really."

It helps when you pitch as well as Hudson has pitched.

"Obviously, it's only three games, but I'm feeling comfortable out there," he said. "I'm feeling good. I'm just trying - like I said when I first got here - get three outs whenever Davey needs me to get them."