On Friday against the last-place Atlanta Braves, Strasburg got rocked, allowing seven hits and six runs over 5 1/3 innings in an 8-5 loss.
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The Nationals scored their first three runs on an RBI bunt single by Ben Revere, an RBI double by Bryce Harper, and a sacrifice fly by Anthony Rendon.
Freeman is now slashing.284/.375/.531 with a.376 wOBA, 22 homers and 53 RBI’s on the year.
To make room for Lopez, Washington (68-47) released former closer Jonathan Papelbon, who struggled in July and had made only two appearances since the team acquired Melancon from Pittsburgh. Their success, coupled with consistent production from right fielder Nick Markakis and the ever-present power-hitting ability of the aforementioned Kemp and Freeman, should make Atlanta a unsafe team for anyone to play down the stretch.
Lopez, one of Washington’s top prospects, didn’t pitch five full innings in either of his previous big league starts, and this start opened with a thud thanks to Freeman. In each game he had a three-run and a four-run inning, and in each case the four-run inning included a three-run homer and multiple walks, both times including a walk issued to the opposing pitcher.
The first started with promise for the Braves as Ender Inciarte singled and with one out Freddie Freeman singled him to third.
Two innings later, the Nationals’ offense exploded.
In the fifth, Turner added a single and Revere followed with his second triple of the night.
Prior to the All-Star break, the Nationals hurler allowed four or more earned runs in just three of 16 starts.
Jayson Werth extended his on-base streak to 41 games with an RBI double in the seventh. A three-run homer by Rendon later in the inning stretched their lead to 7-1. The Nationals have scored 19 runs in their last three games and five or more runs in seven of their last 10 games.
“Obviously I wasn’t trying to walk him”, Jenkins said. Rendon’s homer came off Braves starter Tyrell Jenkins and landed in the visitors bullpen in left field.
Jenkins’ day got off to a rough start in the first.
Harper underwent an MRI Saturday, and the results came back clean, but it was initially suspected that Washington would continue to take a conservative approach. In limiting them to five hits and one run in seven innings, he improved to 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA in 14 games (nine starts) against the Braves, including a 1.22 ERA in his past seven starts. He made a strong throw to third base and almost got the speedy Ender Inciarte and ran well all afternoon, showing no ill effects of whatever ails him. The road ahead looks easy on paper, however the Nationals will only have three more off-days the rest of the season, with the next one not coming until September 1st. Werth owns the longest active streak in the majors and is one game behind Ryan Zimmerman’s club record of 43 set in 2009.
Braves: Atlanta returns home for a two-game set with Minnesota starting Tuesday.
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Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (12-6, 2.88 ERA) is 4-1 with a 1.84 ERA in career starts against Atlanta.
