The Sports Xchange
Sep 14, 2017
WASHINGTON -- Tanner Roark won for the fourth time in five starts, and Adam Lind and Victor Robles each went 2-for-3 and scored twice as the Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves 5-2 on Thursday, salvaging the finale of a three-game series.
Roark (13-9) gave up just two runs on four hits in six innings with one walk and seven strikeouts. He has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his last eight starts and has a 4.43 ERA after it was 5.27 in early July.
Matt Albers, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle (18th save with Washington) each pitched a scoreless inning for the Nationals.
Atlanta's Mike Foltynewicz (10-13) lost a seventh consecutive start. He left the game with a cut on the middle finger of his right hand after yielding three runs in four innings.
The National League East champion Nationals (89-57) evened the season series at 8-8 with the Braves (66-79). Atlanta finished 6-4 at Nationals Park this year.
Jayson Werth also had two hits for Washington, which lost two of three to the Braves since clinching the division title Sunday. Kurt Suzuki had two hits for the Atlanta, which got a home run from Ozzie Albies.
Trea Turner led off with a double to center in the last of the first inning and scored on RBI single by Werth to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead off Foltynewicz.
Washington scored two in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead as Robles had an RBI triple and then scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Pedro Severino.
Roark did not allow a hit until Johan Tamargo singled with two outs in the fifth.
Foltynewicz walked one and struck out three. He was replaced by Rex Brothers, who immediately gave up long outs to Turner and Werth on balls that were caught on the warning track.
Washington catcher Jose Lobaton left the game in the last of the second inning after he was hit near the left ankle on a pitch by Foltynewicz.
Severino pinch-ran for Lobaton and stayed in the game to catch.
Albies extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a two-run homer just over the reach of center fielder Michael A. Taylor in the sixth. That trimmed the Washington lead to 3-2.
Washington's Adrian Sanchez hit a two-run double off reliever Matt Wisler to widen the margin to 5-2 in the last of the sixth.
NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 30 minutes by a rain shower. ... Washington RHP Edwin Jackson (5-5, 4.14 ERA) will start at home Friday against Dodgers LHP Alex Wood (14-3, 2.81), who has struggled for the past month. ... Braves LHP Sean Newcomb (2-8, 4.38) will pitch on Friday in New York against Mets RHP Rafael Montero (5-9, 5.05). ... Atlanta C David Freitas, who made his major league debut in late August, was drafted by the Nationals out of the University of Hawaii in 2010. ... Braves CF Ender Inciarte was back in the starting lineup and went 0-for-4 after he missed the Wednesday game with a sore thumb.