Braves 6, Nationals 2
How the game was won
The Braves beat the Washington Nationals and Stephen Strasburg again Saturday, knocking him out with four consecutive singles in a four-run fifth inning at Nationals Park.
Braves highlights
Dan Uggla had a two-run single to give the Braves the lead. Brothers B.J. and Justin Upton combined for four hits. Julio Teheran, didn’t allow a baserunner past first between the second and fifth innings as the Braves rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 6-2 lead. And Teheran contributed two hits, including one against Strasburg that drove in the tying run.
Braves lowlights
Teheran gave up a towering two-run home run in the first inning to former Braves first baseman Adam LaRoche.
Nationals highlights
Other than LaRoche’s hit, there were few.
Nationals lowlights
In the fourth inning, what appeared to be a routine grounder that third baseman Ryan Zimmerman had to back up to catch, resulted in a horrible throwing error that allowed the Braves to score their first run and lead to a two-run inning and a 2-2 tie. Zimmerman, who had shoulder surgery in November 2012 and is in year 2 of a $100 million contract, had to leave the game and was to have an MRI later. As for Strasburg, he was charged with eight hits and six runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings and fell to 3-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 13 starts against the Braves. The hard-throwing right-hander is 26-15 with a 2.90 ERA in 64 starts against everyone else.
Notable
It was the Braves’ 19th win in the past 25 games against the Nationals. With their seventh win in as many April games against the Nationals over two seasons, Atlanta (4-1) moved a game ahead of them in the National League East standings and remained a half-game behind first-place Miami. The Braves are 9-2 at Nationals Park since the beginning of last season.
Quoting them
“You never want to give Strasburg too much of a cushion. But Julio, he didn’t have his best stuff tonight but he battled and competed. That’s what we expect out of him every time. We had all the confidence in the world that he was going to hold them right there, and he did.” — Uggla.
“It’s getting worse.” — An NL scout to the Washington Post about Zimmerman’s throwing motion and shoulder trouble.
“That (home run) was the biggest mistake I made in the game. Then after that I was just focusing on getting people out and trying to keep my team in the game. And that’s what I did. They were making plays for me and I got motivated.” — Teheran.
“It’s just one of those things you can’t explain. Just for whatever reason, when I’ve made contact the ball’s found some holes.” — Uggla, now 12 for 30 in his career against Strasburg.
“It’s just as hard for us as it is for him. He’s our captain on this team. He’s a big piece of it, to say the least. To watch him go through that, it’s frustrating. We’re all behind him.” — LaRoche to the Washington Post on Zimmerman.
