Before Nick Markakis and Kurt Suzuki came through with the clutch eighth-inning hits that gave the Braves a stirring 7-4 win against the Nationals on Friday night, a crowd of 35,369 at SunTrust Park saw Atlanta fail to cash in on chances to take the lead in each of the previous three innings.
Suzuki’s RBI double in the fifth inning tied the score, 4-4, but the Braves wasted a chance to take the lead when both rookie Johan Camargo and Jace Peterson struck out with runners at second and third.
They frittered away another opportunity in the sixth, after Dansby Swanson’s leadoff double on a hustle play that caught left fielder Jayson Werth off-guard. A failed Emilio Bonifacio bunt attempt and an out later, Ender Inciarte singled to shallow center and Swanson was thrown out easily at the plate after being sent by third-base coach Ron Washington.
Still not done in the inning, Brandon Phillips was walked intentionally and the Braves had two in scoring position after an Inciarte and Phillips double-steal, but this time Markakis grounded out. The Braves had gotten two hits, a walk and two steals in the inning, but failed to score.
They had yet another chance an inning later in the seventh, after loading the bases on a leadoff single from Kemp and consecutive two-out walks by Peterson and Swanson against reliever Shawn Kelly, who then struck out rookie pinch-hitter Rio Ruiz on three pitches to end the inning with bases full.
But in the eighth, the Braves got two big hits from veterans Markakis — a tie-breaking, two-strike RBI single against hard-throwing Enny Romero — and Suzuki, who hit a two-out, two-run homer that pushed the lead to three runs.
“We did the small things,” Phillips said. “We had guys in scoring position. We didn’t come through but those guys are young, they’re still trying to learn. They try to do too much, but it’s all a learning experience and we came through at the end.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker said, “These guys never quit, never give up. It’s an unbelievable bunch, I think. They fought their butts off in this game and it was nice to see them come out on top.”
Braves knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who pitched 5 1/3 solid innings and got no decision, liked what he saw from his team as it kept fighting to put itself in position to win and eventually did it with some huge contributions from veterans including Phillips, whose second stolen base of the night came just before Markakis’ single and made it possible for that hit to drive in the go-ahead run.
“I would think that was the plan all along this offseason when we started accumulating some older guys that can manage some games like that,” Dickey said. “Brandon did a great job. Kurt and I, we were on the same page all night. I threw a lot of pitches tonight, which is good. I like to do that. It’s no problem.”
Suzuki deflected credit and noted that it was the work of Markakis and Phillips that put the Braves ahead. Phillips’ ninth-inning stolen base won’t get headlines, but it was a smart, alert play by the soon-to-be 36-year-old second baseman.
“He’s a gamer, man,” Suzuki said. “He knows what he’s doing. He’d probably be the first to tell you that he’s not the fastest guy out there, but, I mean, every time he seems to get on base he has a huge jump and he reads pitchers. He’s a great guy to have around for the young guys, base stealers, watching him and how he studies pitchers and knows how to get jumps. Big bags, man. Any time you move up 90 feet, it’s huge.”
