Not so fast: Braves beat Nationals, avoid sweep

WASHINGTON— The Atlanta Braves proved they weren't going down without a fight in the NL East on Wednesday night after topping the Washington Nationals 6-2 at Nationals Park.

The Nationals looked to the bullpen four times to come up with some momentum, but no one could get the job done.
After taking the first two games of the series and giving up the third, the Braves are now eight games behind the Nationals and in a tight race for the second wild card spot, moving within a game of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Braves starting pitcher Aaron Harang looked impressive through six innings, allowing six hits and one run to score, while striking out nine batters.
Stephen Strasburg pitched six complete innings giving up seven hits and striking out eight.

The contest was scoreless into the top of the fifth when Braves centerfielder B.J. Upton hit a home run off Strasburg's first pitch. Upton's 11th home run of the season soared over the left-field fence, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead.

But the game would turn even more when Strasburg departed.

Lefty reliever Jerry Blevins only lasted a third of an inning after allowing two hits and three runs.

"We're going to continue to give him the ball," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "Today he gave up a base hit to the pitcher and then a broken-bat hit. Then you get to the middle of their order and they're tough on anybody, but it's a situation where we're going to have to continue to give him the baseball in those types of situations. We lined it up pretty good to face lefties and it didn't happen today."

The same could be said for Rafael Soriano's performance as the closer since the All-Star break; his struggles prompted Williams to remove him from the role. He pitched the eighth inning and gave up two hits, but no runs.

"We gave him a couple of days, he worked on some things," Williams said before the game. "He had a day after that work, and now it's important for him to get in a game. We want to get him in there and let him feel confident about the things he worked on in the bullpen. There's nothing like getting in the game situation."

After the game Soriano said it wasn't difficult to watch Drew Storen come in and close out three consecutive games because each time the team wound up with a win.