Jurrjens picks up 12th win

At some point during their 10-5 win against Washington on Friday night, perhaps during their seven-run third inning, some Braves must have wondered how their team lost 10 of its first 14 games against the Nationals this season.

Rookie Brandon Jones had a three-run double in a seven-run third inning that sent the Braves to their second win in as many nights against the last-place Nationals, their first consecutive wins in nearly a month.

They fourth-place Braves have no choice but to settle for September wins against the Nationals, meaningless other than to keep the Braves from slipping to the bottom rung that Washington occupies on the National League East ladder.

“If that’s not [a motivator], then something is wrong with you,” said Braves second baseman Kelly Johnson, who went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs in his fourth consecutive multihit game.

“We should win certain games we played against them. They came out on top in games I think we should have won. … You definitely don’t want to finish last. That’s embarrassing.”

Jair Jurrjens (12-9) worked out of several jams while laboring through five innings of one-run ball for the Braves, then sounded relieved to hear the Braves moved back to eight games ahead of the last-place Nationals.

They’re assured of at least a split of the four-game series against Washington, which had pulled to within six games of the Braves before Thursday.

“I’ve been losing my control lately, and I need to figure it out so I can go seven innings again before the season’s over,” said Jurrjens, who surrendered six hits and three walks and threw 98 pitches in his first win since Aug 9.

“We’re just trying to put together some good games in the last month, have some fun and play like a team, so we can get a fresh start going to next year.”

Jurrjens won for only the second time in six weeks. He had six strikeouts, and the Nationals stranded at least one runner in scoring position each of the first four innings.

Nationals starter Jason Bergmann (2-11) was charged with five hits, seven runs and three walks in 2 1/3 innings and fell to 1-10 in his past 20 games.

“We hit the ball really well tonight,” said manager Bobby Cox, whose Braves had lost 18 of 23 games before this series, and not won consecutive games since Aug. 7-9 at Arizona. “Big clutch hits tonight, Kelly and Brandon Jones. [Johnson] is on fire right now.”

He’s 11-for-17 with five doubles, two triples and eight RBI in four games.

The Braves led 10-2 before recently acquired journeyman Elmer Dessens gave up three runs in the seventh — actually lowering his ERA from 31.50 to 30.00.

They are still 18 games under .500 (62-80) with no legitimate shot of catching the third-place Marlins. They’ve spoken often of playing a spoiler role in September, and they might if they have more performances like Friday in their 12 remaining games against East leaders New York and Philadelphia (six against each).

With his bases-loaded double in the third, Jones provided a reminder of what made him a solid outfield prospect and 100-RBI man in the minors in 2007. He was asked how important this month is for the Braves’ young players.

“It’s real important, to let the organization get a chance to watch me,” he said. “It’s real exciting. I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”

The Braves had already scored four in the inning, including bases-loaded walks by Casey Kotchman and Jeff Francoeur. Francoeur left after being hit in the left hip by a pitch in the fifth inning. Cox said he probably wouldn’t play Saturday.

Johnson drove in the first run of the seven-run inning with a double to score Jurrjens, who had started the inning with a single.

It had been four weeks since the Braves scored as many runs in an inning, and both times Jurrjens was the recipient of the largesse. He was the starter Aug. 9 at Arizona when the Braves scored seven runs in the sixth inning of an 11-4 win.