Tempers cooled Wednesday night, but the Braves – and Justin Upton - never did.
The Braves and Nationals got through the night without any more benches-clearing brush-ups. They just played another good, highly-contested game, until the Braves broke it open with a three-run eighth for a 6-3 win and their 13th win in a row.
Upton went 3-for-4 with three RBIs on a double and his fifth home run in seven games this month. His brother B.J. Upton went 4-for-5 for his first four-hit game since last August 12 with the Tampa Bay Rays.
“This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for, for our offense to click like this and the pitching to just be consistent,” said Kris Medlen, who won his third start in a row with arguably his best work of the season.
The Braves finished out a perfect 6-0 road trip with 15 hits from their offense and their fifth quality start in six games.
The Braves are two wins shy of the Atlanta-record streak of 15 straight in 2000. They’ve swept the past four teams they’ve played, starting with the Cardinals and Rockies at home and the Phillies and Nationals on the road.
They’ll catch their breath with an off-day Thursday before opening a nine-game homestand Friday.
The Braves have won all six games at Nationals Park this season and 10 of 13 overall against the Nationals this season. The Braves left Washington with a 15 ½ game lead in the NL East, their largest lead since finishing 19 games ahead of the Montreal Expos in 2002.
“We came in here and we let them know,” said Freddie Freeman, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. “We’re here to stay.”
Despite the theatrics between Bryce Harper and Julio Teheran that led to the benches clearing Tuesday night, the only bad taste in Braves’ mouths as they left town? A peanut butter protein shake manager Fredi Gonzalez drank for the 13th straight day.
“Tastes awful,” Gonzalez said. “Not that we’re superstitious.”
Medlen allowing only three hits and three runs in seven innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. The Braves bullpen pitched two scoreless innings, giving the Braves 32 relief innings without allowing a run to the Nationals this season. Craig Kimbrel loaded the bases in a 36-pitch ninth inning but escaped the jam for his league-high 36th save.
Medlen didn’t give up a hit until he had two outs in the fourth inning, but it tied the game 2-2 as Jayson Werth hit a two-run home run to right center field. Medlen had retired the first 11 batters he faced before walking Harper two pitches before Werth’s home run. Otherwise, he gave up only a pair of singles in the seventh.
“It’s probably the best I’ve felt all year,” said Medlen, now 9-10 with a 3.85 ERA. “I felt like I was throwing my curveball for strikes and for chase. Any time I have that third pitch it’s really going to help me. My fastball location was there too.”
The Braves chased Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann, who had more wins (13) than Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez combined (12), after four innings on 88 pitches. They scored two runs off him, including only one out of a bases-loaded nobody-out opportunity in the fourth, but it forced the Nationals to go deep into their bullpen, which eventually paid off.
Justin Upton put the Braves up 3-2 on a late-inning home run for the second time in three games, scalding a shot to the Braves bullpen off reliever Fernando Abad.
After the Nationals tied it 3-3 on two singles and an Ian Desmond groundout off Medlen, the Braves rallied with three two-out runs in the eighth. Jason Heyward broke through with a two-strike opposite-field RBI single and Justin drove in two more with a double.
It was a good night all around for the Upton family, as B.J. Upton finished the series 7-for-12. He has hit .476 (10-for-21) since his return from the disabled list while raising his season average to .198.
“It looks like he’s comfortable,” Justin said. “That’s what we’re going to need down the stretch. We need everybody to go up and be able to put together a good at-bat and stay in a rhythm.”
