Braves beat Nationals again, this time in 13 innings

Evan Gattis had a go-ahead single in the 13th and the Braves added another run on a fielder’s choice groundout by Andrelton Simmons to improve to 7-1 against the Nationals this season and move back ahead of them by a ½ game in the National League East standings.

The Braves also won for the first time in four extra-inning games over two weeks including three 13-inning games in the past week.

This NL East rivalry for 22 months has been entirely one-sided in favor of the the Braves, who won for the 24th time in 31 games against the Nationals since late August 2012.

Mike Minor struck out 11 in seven innings and outpitched Strasburg, who gave up a season-high nine hits and four runs and is winless against the Braves in seven starts over two season. Minor was in position for his first win since May 19 before Kimbrel entered with a 4-2 lead and gave up the two-out homer by Rendon, after walking pinch-hitter Nate McLouth to start the inning.

Braves reliever Juan Jaime made an auspicious major league debut, striking out two in the 11th inning including Rendon with two out and runner on. Jaime consistently pumped 97-98 mph fastballs, and froze Sandy Leon and Rendon with 76- and 73-mph curveballs for called third strikes.

That worked so well the Braves did it again in the 12th, when left-hander Buchter got three outs in three batters. He struck out Jayson Werth on three pitches to start the inning, walked lefty Adam LaRoche on four pitches, then got Ryan Zimmerman to ground into an inning-ending double play.

In an odd coincidence, both Buchter, 27, and Jaime, 26, began their professional careers in the Nationals organization. Buchter was a 33rd-round draft pick in 2005 and Jaime signed as an undrafted free agent in 2004.

Both were thrust into high-pressure situations Friday when the Braves rested rookie relievers Shae Simmons and David Hale due to recent heavy usage.

Nationals relievers retired 18 consecutive batters following Tommy La Stella’s leadoff double in the seventh inning. But the Braves finally broke through in the 13th against lefty Jerry Blevins. B.J. Upton drew a leadoff walk before Freddie Freeman singled and Gattis drove in the go-ahead run with a single to left field that drew applause from a contingent of Braves fans seated in the left-field bleachers.

Freeman hit a first-inning homer and Jason Heyward had a two-run, two-out double in the fifth inning for the Braves, and Gattis extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a two-out single in the fifth before Heyward’s double.

Minor pitched seven strong innings, allowing seven hits and two runs with two walks while coming within one strikeout of his career-best 12. Anthony Varvaro gave up two hits in a scoreless eighth inning before giving a two-run lead to Kimbrel.

Walks, and particularly leadoff walks, have been a problem for Kimbrel this season, and this time wasn’t able to blow ever hitter away who followed. Two batters later, Rendon hit a long fly to left-center that was initially an RBI double. The Nationals challenged the call and the replay clearly showed the ball cleared the outfield fence, giving him a game-tying homer and giving Kimbrel his third blown save in 25 chances.

Kimbrel has a loss and two blown saves in 12 appearances over the past three weeks.

Before Friday, the Braves were 23-7 with a 1.98 ERA against the Nationals since late August 2012, and Atlanta pitchers have limited them to one or no runs in 11 of those games including. Gavin Floyd and three relievers combined on a three-hit shutout in a 3-0 Braves win in Thursday’s series opener.

Strasburg got no decision to remain a career-worst 3-5 with a 4.04 ERA in 14 starts against the Braves. The only other team he has more than two losses against is the Marlins, and he’s 7-4 in 16 career starts against them.

Minor recorded the fourth double-digit strikeout game of his career and his second this month, following a 10-strikeout game June 4 in which he allowed only one run in seven innings of a 2-0 Braves loss. He got knocked around for a combined 22 hits and 11 runs in nine innings over his next two starts, but the lefty was sharp from the outset of Friday’s game.

He struck out two in a perfect first inning, gave up three hits including a mammoth solo homer to Ian Desmond in the second, then struck out two in every inning from the third through the sixth. The Nationals didn’t score again until Denard Span’s two-out RBI triple in the seventh inning, after the Braves had built a 4-1 lead.

The Braves had been 8-14 with a 4.76 ERA in their past 22 games before coming to Washington, while the Nationals had won seven of eight home games during a 12-6 run that gave them first place by 1 ½ games before the Braves came calling.

After two-out singles in the fifth by Freeman and Gattis, Heyward drove in both runners with a double over the head of right fielder Werth to expand the Braves’ lead to 4-1. Heyward also singled in the fourth inning and has hit .318 with 17 RBIs and 14 runs in his past 21 games.

Heyward’s two-run double was the season-high ninth allowed by Strasburg, surpassing the eight he gave up in three games including his April 5 loss to the Braves, when he lasted only 4 1/3 innings and was charged with six runs (three earned) in his first home start of 2014.

In seven home starts since then, Strasburg had gone 5-0 with a 1.72 ERA before Friday, with 62 strikeouts and only eight walks in only 47 innings. He didn’t walk any Friday, but he allowed multiple hits in the second, fourth and fifth innings, after giving up the homer to Freeman in the first.

The Braves could have done more damage early against Strasburg, but Jordan Schafer hit fielder’s choice grounders with two runners on and one out in both the second and fourth innings. The Braves got a run in the fourth with three consecutive one-out singles, the third by Andrelton Simmons for a 2-1 lead.

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