The Sports Xchange
Jun 14, 2017
WASHINGTON -- Leadoff hitter Ender Inciarte was 3-for-6 with two RBIs, Brandon Phillips was 4-for-6 with three RBIs and Julio Teheran allowed just two runs as the Atlanta Braves crushed the Washington Nationals 13-2 on Wednesday.
The top three hitters went 10-for-16 for Atlanta, which put the game away with six runs in the seventh. Nick Markakis, the No. 3 hitter, added three hits and Matt Adams and Kurt Suzuki added two each for the Braves, who won two of three in the series.
Teheran (6-4) beat first-place Washington for the first time in 10 starts. The right-hander gave up just six hits and one walk in seven innings to the top hitting team in the league.
The Braves scored three in the top of the first to take a 3-0 lead as Phillips had an RBI double and Markakis and Adams drove in runs with sharply hit singles against struggling starter Tanner Roark.
Washington trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the second inning as Brian Goodwin hit a two-run homer.
But Atlanta scored three more in the third inning to take a 6-2 advantage. Markakis scored on an error when catcher Jose Lobaton made a bad pickoff attempt to first base. Later in the inning Suzuki, a former Nationals catcher, smashed a two-run homer to give the Braves a 6-2 lead.
Adams had a sacrifice fly in the fifth as Atlanta jumped ahead 7-2 against Roark (6-4), who gave up a season-high seven runs on nine hits in five innings. Roark has a 4.39 ERA after posting a mark of 2.83 last year.
Teheran walked with the bases loaded in the seventh off reliever Trevor Gott to force in a run and make it 8-2. Inciarte followed with a two-run single, Phillips had a two-run double and Danny Santana had an RBI single to make it 13-2.
Washington (39-26) lost for the fifth time in six games while Atlanta (29-36) won just the 13th time in its last 47 contests against the Nationals. Stephen Drew and Adam Lind had two hits for Washington.
Braves left fielder Matt Kemp was replaced in the last of the third by Santana. Kemp held his hamstring after he was tagged out a third in the top of the third after the poor throw by Lobaton.
NOTES: Nationals Park is about 10 miles north of Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Virginia, the scene of a shooting Wednesday morning that injured Congressional staff members practicing with the Republican team for the annual Congressional baseball game slated for Thursday. The charity game will be played as scheduled on Thursday at Nationals Park ... Darren Baker, the son of Washington manager Dusty Baker, was drafted in the 27th round Wednesday by the Nationals. He just graduated from high school and is expected to play in college at California as a freshman ... Washington LHP Gio Gonzalez (5-1, 2.91 ERA) will face Mets RHP Robert Gsellman (5-3, 4.95) on Thursday in New York ... Atlanta LHP Sean Newcomb (0-1, 0.00) will oppose Marlins RHP Dan Straily (4-4, 3.89) on Friday in Atlanta.