Conrad’s HR key as Braves edge Nationals

WASHINGTON - Brooks Conrad didn’t know any better.

He didn’t know the Braves were supposed to fall flat against the Nationals, like they often do, and kill whatever momentum they had built in a sweep against the Phillies.

So Conrad, who was called up from Class AAA Gwinnett on Friday, launched a three-run pinch-hit home run in his first at-bat as a Brave for the winning blow in a 9-8 win over the Nationals.

“Huge thrill,” said Conrad, who arrived in D.C. on Friday after the Braves put Kelly Johnson on the disabled list with a sore right wrist. “Obviously the best experience I’ve had in the big leagues. It feels awesome to come up in a situation like that and contribute right away.”

It was the first home run of Conrad’s major-league career, which includes six games with Oakland last year.

Now who’s pesky?

Manager Bobby Cox says Braves fans are going to like Conrad, and he showed them why when he sent Conrad in with two outs in the seventh inning.

“If he gets in that lineup, they’re going to like the way he plays,” Cox said. “He’s all-out all the time. He plays like a gritty old-timer.”

Conrad continued what he had been doing in Gwinnett, where he was tied for the team lead with nine home runs and on his way to the Triple-A All-Star Game.

Conrad added pop to a Braves lineup that had managed 11 hits to that point but only five runs. Conrad broke the 5-5 tie by sending a 1-0 offering from Nationals’ reliever Jesus Colome into the Nationals’ bullpen in right field.

That was the Braves’ second pinch-hit home run in as many nights. Garret Anderson hit his first pinch-hit home run in 8,184 career at-bats Thursday to give the Braves breathing room in a 5-2 win over the Phillies.

The Braves needed breathing room Friday, plus an insurance run manufactured in the eighth, after the Nationals scored two runs on Rafael Soriano in the ninth. He hung on for his eighth save despite allowing two walks and a two-run double to Cristian Guzman.

“Our bullpen has been lights-out for a long time now,” Cox said. “That was a little burp that didn’t cost us.”

The Braves survived to win their fifth in a row to stay two games behind the Phillies in the National League East.

The Braves won for only the fourth time in 13 games at Nationals Park. They are now 5-2 against the Nationals on the season, 2-2 in Washington. The Nationals, meanwhile, have lost nine of their past 11 games.

“I think everybody is starting to feel like we got a good streak going,” said Chipper Jones, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. “We don’t want it to end. We certainly don’t want it to end here. … The bottom line is that some of the successes that the Phillies and Mets have had over the years is that they’ve beaten the teams that they should beat. When we come in here, we want to take care of business.”

Kenshin Kamakami gave up five runs in 4-1/3 innings and needed 92 pitches to do it. His own throwing error on a play at second cost him a shot at the win.

He was pitching for the first time in nine days because of the line drive shot he took in the neck against the Yankees, but he said through an interpreter once he got into the game it didn’t affect him.

Kawakami walked three, allowed a run-scoring hit to the pitcher and the 299th career home run by Adam Dunn.

“Kawakami was OK tonight,” Cox said. “Way too many pitches for four-and-a-third [innings]. His stuff is still there. Everything is there he just gets off target once in a while and builds up so many pitches too quick.