Washington Nationals second baseman Trea Turner (7) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a two run homer against the Atlanta Braves during the third inning at Nationals Park. Turner smacked a two-run homer to left with an out in the third to give the Nationals the lead. Gonzalez had won all four of his decisions in August and was 6-1 with a 3.02 ERA in his 10 previous starts. The Braves still own the NL’s worst record, but a six-game winning streak that ended Monday has provided a spark of optimism to Atlanta’s rebuilding project.
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It was still tied at 6-6 in the home-half of the eighth when Braves’ right-hander Jose Ramirez walked the first two batters of the inning. Swanson was flying right out off the box, and by the time Bryce Harper caught up to the baseball, he was heading for home.
A cool trivia moment for casuals in itself, but it gains steam for the hardcore crowd when the following information is added to the mix: Swanson also raced around the bases for an inside-the-park sequence for his first home run as part of the Braves’ organization – with the High-A Carolina Mudcats earlier this year. “I tried to be an athlete and it just didn’t work out”.
“It was one of those things where I thought it was going to be my first triple”, Swanson said.
Swanson, who made his big league debut August 17, entered the game hitting.236 with four RBIs in 55 at-bats. The Nationals entered the series opener with the best bullpen ERA in the NL (3.29), but closer Mark Melancon surrendered two runs on four hits in a shaky ninth inning.
Three straight singles in the fourth led to the Braves’ fourth run of the game coming in on an RBI single by Freddie Freeman, 4-1. Anthony Rendon then connected on his first career grand slam to lift the Nationals to their first lead of the game at 5-4.
“We left a lot of guys on against him, but that’s why he is who he is, too”, Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. Zimmerman chased Perez two batters later with a solo homer to cap the five-run inning.
Atlanta CF Ender Inciarte extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a pair of singles in five at-bats.
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Freeman has a 12-game hit streak after going 2 for 5 yesterday. Atlanta RHP Mike Foltynewicz (8-5, 4.31) is slated to pitch Wednesday against Washington, which had not announced its starter … Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg (15-4, 3.59) threw on the flat ground in the outfield before the game.
