Tommy Hanson extended his scoreless-innings streak to 20 at the Red Sox' expense.

AP photo / Gregory Smith

ATLANTA – Until Sunday, the Red Sox had not faced Braves pitching prospect Tommy Hanson. They hope they don’t see him again anytime soon.

The 22-year-old right-hander completely shut down the potent Red Sox lineup, working six scoreless innings (97 pitches, 63 strikes). He allowed only two hits with two walks while recording two strikeouts.

Hanson kept the Sox hitless until Jason Bay and David Ortiz provided back-to-back singles in the fourth inning.

The outing capped an impressive week for Hanson, who worked 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory over the Yankees on Tuesday. He gave up only four hits in that game.

Hanson becomes the first National League rookie pitcher to beat the Yankees and the Red Sox in consecutive starts. With Sunday’s win he improves to 4-0 since his recall from Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s worked 20 consecutive scoreless innings.

Hanson’s chance to pitch against the Red Sox was almost in jeopardy, since he was battling the flu virus for the last few days. It was only about an hour before the game that the Braves decided Hanson could pitch.

“I thought he was good,” said manager Terry Francona. “If he was sick, I don’t want to see him when he’s not sick. He’s got plenty of velocity and some real good off-speed. I can see why they like him.”

“He’s a good pitcher. He’s a guy who knows how to hit his spots, and he uses his off speed to his advantage,” said Kevin Youkilis. “He went out there today and threw a good ballgame.”

Hanson was a 22nd-round selection in the 2005 draft by the Braves out of Riverside (Calif.) Community College. Even though Sunday was the first time the Red Sox faced him, Hanson also beat the PawSox on April 30 at McCoy Stadium.

He worked six scoreless innings in a 5-0 victory at Pawtucket that day and allowed only three hits with nine strikeouts. That means Hanson has kept the Red Sox organization scoreless in 12 innings on only five hits in 2009.

jmcdonal@projo.com