CHICAGO -- It wasn't just the chilly breeze that had an October feel. There was something about the battle waged between Tim Hudson and Carlos Zambrano that made the scene feel like the postseason.

Fortunately for Hudson, Chipper Jones was there to slay one of Atlanta's former playoff nemeses and ensure it would be Zambrano who would be the one saddled with the tough-luck no-decision.

Jones' second two-run homer of the game -- a one-out ninth-inning shot off Kerry Wood -- proved enough for the Braves to claim a 4-2 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday night.

"Chipper was awesome," said Hudson after his 17th career complete game. "He was a one-man show. He picked me up, big time."

With his first two-homer performance of the season and 31st of his career, Jones made sure Hudson would be rewarded for his masterpiece. The veteran right-hander allowed six hits and two earned runs in his first complete-game effort of the season.

"Huddy had his 'A' game going tonight," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He can't possibly throw any better than he threw tonight. He made just one or two mistakes the whole ballgame."

Heading into the ninth inning, it looked like both pitchers might have to settle for no-decisions. But with Zambrano out after 118 pitches, the Braves took advantage of Wood, who had been unscored upon in seven of the eight relief appearances he had made since going to the bullpen earlier this month.

Jones, who is hitting .463 (25-for-54) in his past 16 games, drilled Wood's misplaced slider into the left-center-field seats. He battled back from an 0-2 deficit and worked the count to 2-2, before getting the slider that he drilled for his 13th homer of the season.

"He threw me a slider, a breaking ball down and in on the first pitch, that I swung through on," Jones said. "I knew if I was going to have success against him I was going to have to lay off that pitch and make him bring it up. I felt at some point he was going to have to throw that breaking ball again, and he got it up and out, over the plate."

When Hudson induced his fourth ground ball of his scoreless ninth, the Braves had a dramatic victory that they could pair with Sunday night's come-from-behind win. Suddenly, the three-game losing streak they incurred after Saturday's gut-wrenching 13-inning loss seems like a distant memory.

"These are big pick-me-ups," said Jones, whose power helped the Braves increase their division lead to four games. "We were hurting after Saturday."

Through the first three innings, both starting pitchers were perfect and it didn't seem like Jones or any other offensive player was going to find much success. After both Hudson and Zambrano faltered in the fourth inning, they resumed their dominance.

Zambrano, who allowed just the two runs on three hits in eight innings, didn't allow a baserunner in any inning other than the fourth. But the fact that he allowed a Rafael Furcal leadoff double and a two-run homer to Jones proved enough for his gem to go unrewarded.

As for Hudson he allowed the Cubs to produce baserunners in only the fourth, seventh and ninth innings. With the help of what he considered to be his best split-finger fastball of the season, Hudson induced 17 groundouts. None of them were more important than the one hit by Aramis Ramirez that led to a clutch double play in the fourth inning.

Hudson began the fourth inning by hitting Matt Lawton and then allowing a double to Todd Walker. After he issued a five-pitch walk to Derrek Lee, the bases were loaded with nobody out. But when he got Ramirez to hit the grounder, he was able to get back into his groove.

"It's fun when you get out there and actually do what you want to do," said Hudson, who has won both of his past two starts and totaled at least seven innings in five of his past six.

Hudson's biggest mistake of the evening came in the seventh, when he allowed Lee to drill a leadoff homer -- his 37th of the season. Later in the inning, left fielder Kelly Johnson made sure the game would remain tied. He fielded a Neifi Perez single and threw a perfect strike to the plate to nail Michael Barrett, who had singled and advanced to second on Hudson's wild pitch.

That and Jones' power ensured Hudson would enjoy what might have been his best start of the season.

"This one was special," Cox said. "He was really dealing tonight."