James Wood doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the visiting Washington Nationals rallied for a 5-4 win against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
With Washington trailing 4-3 to start the eighth inning, CJ Abrams drew a leadoff walk. He went to third on pitcher Enyel De Los Santos’ errant pickoff throw and scored on Ahmed Rosario’s bloop single. Wood doubled to the wall in right, scoring pinch runner Nasim Nunez to give the Nationals a 5-4 lead.
The Braves put a runner on second with one out in the eighth, but Jose A. Ferrer retired the next two batters.
Ferrer (1-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win and Kyle Finnegan worked around a leadoff single in the ninth for his 13th save. De Los Santos (1-2) blew his first save of the season and took the loss.
Abrams had two hits and two walks.
Stuart Fairchild had two hits for Atlanta, which had won three of four.
Abrams led off the game with a single and Rosario was hit by a pitch. Wood singled to right, but Fairchild threw Abrams out at home. Rosario went to third and scored when Nathaniel Lowe grounded into a fielder’s choice.
Michael Harris II led off the Atlanta third with a triple off the top of the wall in right. Fairchild doubled to center, scoring Harris, then stole third and scored on catcher Riley Adams’ throwing error to make it 2-1.
In the fifth, Fairchild and Nick Allen walked and advanced to third on Austin Riley’s groundout off starter Mitchell Parker’s leg. Parker left the game, and Marcell Ozuna greeted Jackson Rutledge with a two-run double and the lead was 4-1.
Washington rallied against reliever Aaron Bummer in the seventh. Lowe led off with a single and Alex Call reached on an error. Josh Bell grounded into a double play, but Dylan Crews singled to score Lowe. Crews stole second and scored when Jose Tena doubled.
Atlanta starter Bryce Elder left with a 4-1 lead after allowing a run on five hits and a walk over six innings.
Parker gave up four runs on four hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
