WASHINGTON – The Braves had waited a long time to celebrate a series win at Nationals Park, so long that most of the current Atlanta roster wasn’t even on the team the last time it happened.
But Julio Teheran was, and he also got some long-overdue satisfaction Wednesday in the Braves’ 13-2 rout against the Nationals, snapping his eight-start winless streak against the Nationals while helping the Braves clinch their first series win at Nationals Park since April 2014.
Brandon Phillips had a season-high four hits and Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis had three hits apiece as the top three in the Braves’ batting order went 10-for-16 with seven runs and six RBIs.
Teheran was 0-3 with a 6.11 ERA in his past eight starts against the Nationals before Wednesday, when he pitched seven strong innings to remain unbeaten on the road this season. He limited them to six hits, two runs and one walk with three strikeouts in seven innings despite sitting through some long innings while the Braves were batting, including three-run innings in the first and third and a six-run seventh inning.
The Braves are 4-2 with a pair of series wins home and away against the Nationals this season, and outscored them 29-22 while taking two of three in this series. Before this week, the Braves had been 2-23 in their past 25 games at Nationals Park going back to June 2014.
The only negative for the Braves was seeing cleanup hitter Matt Kemp leave Wednesday’s game with a leg injury in the third inning, but the team characterized it as only left-hamstring tightness and Kemp said he left as a precautionary measure after having a stint on the disabled list in April for a right-hamstring strain.
Teheran improved to a 5-0 with a 2.89 ERA in seven road starts, compared to 1-4 with a 7.25 ERA in seven home starts. Before allowing seven runs, 11 hits and two homers in five innings of his last road start June 4 at Cincinnati, he had a 1.42 ERA and .599 opponents’ OPS in five road starts.
But at Nationals Park, Teheran had gone 0-2 with a 5.76 ERA in his past four starts before Wednesday, his winless streak coinciding with the Braves’ 2-25 stretch at the ballpark prior to this series. He gave up six runs and two homers twice at Nationals Park in those four starts.
In losing 23 of their past 25 games at Nationals Park before this series, the Braves had averaged under 2.9 runs per game, scored more than five runs only four times and never scored more than eight. They had not scored more than 15 runs in any series at Nationals Park during that span and had totaled just seven and nine runs while getting swept in four-game series in 2015 and 2016.
Braves won a three-game series in Washington for the first time since taking two of three at Nationals Park in April 2014. They also split a four-game June series at Washington in June 2014, but beginning with losses in the last two games of that series the Braves were 2-25 with a 5.84 ERA at Nationals Park prior to this series, getting out-hit .300-.226, out-homered 31-9 and outscored 145-72. Complete domination.
But that run ended this week, or at least was interrupted by the Braves, who won a three-game series despite allowing a .392 batting average, six homers and 20 runs in the first two games. They won 11-10 in the series opener and lost 10-5 on Tuesday before roughing up Roark in the series finale.
It would be severe understatement to say the Braves were overdue both at Nationals Park and against Tanner Roark, who came into Wednesday’s game with a 5-1 record and 1.95 ERA in 15 career games (10 starts) against the Braves, including 4-0 with a 0.76 ERA in eight home games (five starts).
On Wednesday, he gave up three runs before recording the second out of the game. Roark lasted five innings and was charged with nine hits, seven runs and two walks.
