Field Level Media
Jun 21, 2019
Stephen Strasburg bounced back from a rough outing and young outfielders Victor Robles and Juan Soto led the Washington Nationals past the visiting Atlanta Braves 4-3 on Friday.
It was the fifth win in a row for Washington, which has captured 18 of its past 25 contests and is one game under .500 for the first time since April 24. The Braves had won 11 of 13 but couldn't hold a 3-0 lead.
Strasburg (8-4), who gave up four homers in his previous start, went six innings and allowed three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Javy Guerra pitched a scoreless seventh for the Nationals and Trevor Rosenthal got rookie slugger Austin Riley for the last out of the eighth with a runner on second.
Wander Suero pitched the ninth for his first major league save after allowing the first two batters to reach. He retired Dansby Swanson for the last out with two runners on as Robles made a diving catch in right field.
Dallas Keuchel (0-1), who signed a one-year contract with the Braves two weeks ago, made his first major league appearance this season.
The veteran lefty, who won the Cy Young Award in 2015 with Houston, went five innings and gave up four runs (three earned) and eight hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
Soto tripled down the first-base line to lead off the fifth and Anthony Rendon followed with an RBI single to give the Nationals a 4-3 lead.
Washington had tied the game with three runs in the fourth, one of them unearned, off Keuchel.
Brian Dozier reached on an error by second baseman Ozzie Albies and then scored on a triple by Robles.
Michael A. Taylor followed with a sacrifice bunt as Robles scored to trim the margin to 3-2. It was just the second RBI of the year for Taylor and his first since May 26.
The next batter, Yan Gomes, hit a laser over the Braves bullpen in left for a solo homer to tie the game. The shot went 447 feet - the longest homer at Nationals Park this season.
Riley hit a two-run homer off Strasburg for a 2-0 lead in the second. Freddie Freeman had an RBI double in the third for a 3-0 advantage. It was the ninth game in a row in which Freeman drove in a run, tying a team record.
--Field Level Media