Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt displayed his quick feet and rifle arm in the top of the sixth inning when he threw out Michael Taylor trying to steal third base for the second out, with two on and Washington ahead 1-0.
But what the defensively gifted catcher did with his bat in the bottom of the sixth provided an even greater lift for an offense and a team in dire need of one.
Three runs scored on Bethancourt’s bases-loaded single that skipped off the glove of first baseman Tyler Moore, sending the Braves to a 3-1 win to snap a five-game losing skid and prevent a Nationals sweep on a night when the newly crowned National League East champions used a lineup dotted with prospects and minor leaguers.
Alex Wood (11-10) continued his run of strong pitching, allowing five hits, one run and one walk with eight strikeouts in six-plus innings. He left after giving up consecutive singles to start the seventh inning, and David Carpenter retired the next three batters on a fielder’s choice, a pop-up and a strikeout to preserve the 3-1 lead.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 44th save.
Braves Jason Heyward and Andrelton Simmons left the game with injuries, Heyward after being hit in the left thumb by a pitch and Simmons after tweaking an Achilles tendon, manager Fredi Gonzalez said. Simmons isn’t expected to miss any time.
Heyward left in the eighth inning after his thumb swelled from the sixth-inning incident. X-rays were negative, but it’s his throwing hand and he’ll need improvement during the team’s day off Thursday if he’s to play Friday against the Mets.
Wood is 4-2 with a 1.84 ERA in his past 10 starts, and has allowed six hits or fewer in six innings or more in every one of them. It was the sixth time in those 10 games that Wood allowed one or no earned runs, and just the third time in that span that the Braves scored more than two runs while he was in the game. In Friday’s 2-1 loss at Texas, he got no decision after giving up four hits and one run in seven innings.
Wood is 4-2 with a 1.84 ERA in his past 10 starts, and has allowed six hits or fewer in six innings or more in every one of them. It was the sixth time in those 10 games that Wood allowed one or no earned runs, and just the third time in that span that the Braves scored more than two runs while he was in the game. In Friday’s 2-1 loss at Texas, he got no decision after giving up four hits and one run in seven innings.
The Braves won for just the fourth time in 15 September games and avoided losing any more ground to Pittsburgh, which has built a lead of 5 ½ games over them for the second and final NL wild-card spot with only 10 games left for Atlanta. The Braves also trail Milwaukee in the race for that last postseason berth.
The Braves took the season series 11-8 against the Nationals, though it was small consolation after Washington wrested the division title that Atlanta won in 2013. The Nationals clinched it with a win at Turner Field on Tuesday, and the smell of champagne from their postgame celebration hung in the air in the visitor’s clubhouse a day later while most of their lineup regulars rested.
The Nationals took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning on Steven Souza’s first homer in his 16th major league at-bat, on a 1-1 change-up that Wood left over the plate. That extended Washington’s remarkable streak to 22 consecutive road games with at least one homer, the second-longest streak in the majors in the modern era (since 1900).
Washington rookie Blake Treinen allowed just three hits and one walk in five scoreless innings, but the Braves got to Ross Detwiler after the veteran left-hander entered in the sixth inning.
Phil Gosselin (3-for-4) led off the inning with a single, his second leadoff hit of the night. Ramiro Pena followed with an infield single, the first time the Braves had two hits in an inning in the past two nights.
After Freddie Freeman grounded into a fielder’s choice, Justin Upton struck out looking with runners on the corners. But just when frustrated Braves fans were probably ready to throw their hands in the air or their TVs out the window over another wasted scoring opportunity, Heyward was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.
Up came the rookie Bethancourt, who, in his limited chances, hasn’t had the same kind of problems that most Braves have had in these situations. Bethancourt’s sharp grounder caromed off Moore’s glove as first baseman lunged to his right. The ball sailed just past the hand of second baseman Jeff Kobernus into shallow right field, where Nate Schierholtz picked it up and held it too long, not paying attention to Heyward, who took a chance and dashed from third to make a head-first dive to the plate for the third run.
Bethancourt hustled to third on the throw to the plate and was credited with a two-run single. He is a team-best 9-for-17 with runners in scoring position and two outs, more hits in those situations than Evan Gattis (6-for-41) or B.J. Upton (7-for-49). As a team, the Braves were batting .201 in 563 at-bats with runners in scoring position and two outs before Wednesday, third-lowest in the National League.
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