Orlando Arcia provided the dramatics for the second straight night, this time driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to complete a two-run rally and give the Atlanta Braves a 3-2 victory over the visiting Washington Nationals on Friday.
The victory extended Atlanta’s winning streak to six games with the Braves coming from behind to win the last four. Washington has lost five in a row.
Arcia, who hit the game-tying solo homer on Thursday in the ninth inning of a 13-10, 10-inning win over the New York Mets, singled off the glove of shortstop CJ Abrams to score Eddie Rosario with the go-ahead run.
The rally started when Sean Murphy led off by singling off the right calf of reliever Kyle Finnegan (3-3). Rosario singled to right and took second on a fielding error by Lane Thomas, which allowed pinch runner Sam Hilliard to advance to third. Hilliard scored the tying run on Marcell Ozuna’s infield grounder.
The winning pitcher was Kirby Yates (2-0), who struck out two in a scoreless eighth. Raisel Iglesias struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth for his ninth save.
Atlanta rookie AJ Smith-Shawver made a successful debut as a starting pitcher. He pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, on three hits, two walks and two strikeouts. The 20-year-old right-hander became the youngest pitcher to start a game for the Braves since Julio Teheran in 2011.
Washington starter Josiah Gray pitched five innings and allowed one run on two hits, four walks and six strikeouts. Gray lowered his road ERA to 2.36.
The Nationals scored a run in the first inning when Thomas singled, stole second and advanced to third on catcher Murphy’s throwing error. He scored when Luis Garcia lined a single to right field.
The Braves tied it 1-1 in the second. Ozzie Albies walked, went all the way to third on a pair of Gray’s wild pitches and scored on Arcia’s grounder to shortstop.
Washington scored in the sixth when Thomas reached on shortstop Arcia’s fielding error. He advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and scored when Joey Meneses doubled off reliever Collin McHugh.
–Field Level Media
