Recap: Washington vs. Atlanta
Sports Network | August 30, 2008
Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Elijah Dukes drew a bases-loaded walk off Vladimir Nunez with two outs in the 10th inning, handing the Washington Nationals a 9-8 win over the Atlanta Braves. Anderson Hernandez went 3-for-5 with three RBI and scored the game-winning run for the Nationals, who have won a season-high five straight, including the first two of this three-game set. Jason Bergmann surrendered six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, and Steven Shell (1-1) tossed a scoreless 10th inning to get the win. Nunez (0-2) walked three batters -- one intentionally -- and threw a wild pitch in the 10th to take the loss. Brian McCann, Martin Prado, and Chipper Jones each homered for the flailing Braves, who have dropped three of four, and 15 of 19 overall. Hernandez got things started in the 10th with a walk, and headed to second on a wild pitch. Cristian Guzman's hard grounder to first eluded Prado for an infield single, putting runners at the corners with no outs. Ryan Zimmerman was intentionally walked, and Nunez came back to strike out Lastings Milledge and get Ronnie Belliard to line out to shallow center. Duke worked a 3-2 count, though, and Nunez's offering was low and outside, forcing in Hernandez with the game-winner. The Braves scored four in the third on four straight hits -- a Jones RBI double, a McCann RBI double, an Omar Infante RBI double, and Prado's RBI single. Hernandez answered with a two-run single in the fourth to cut the deficit in half. McCann led off the fifth with his 23rd homer of the season, a shot to right, and two batters later Prado went deep to right, just his second of the season, for a 6-2 Atlanta lead. The Nats plated five in the home half, though. Belliard had an RBI double, and Jesus Flores' three-run double tied the game. Hernandez put Washington in front with an RBI single later in the frame. Belliard's run-scoring single in the sixth extended the Nationals lead to 8-6, but Jones belted his 20th homer of the season to lead off the seventh, and Gregor Blanco's RBI double in the eighth tied the game at 8-8. Game Notes Jones joined Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews as the only other player to hit at least 20 home runs for 14 consecutive years since the start of their careers...The Nationals left 13 runners on base...Atlanta used six pitchers in the contest, while Washington sent seven men to the hill. Game Notes Jones joined Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews as the only other player to hit at least 20 home runs for 14 consecutive years since the start of their careers...The Nationals left 13 runners on base...Atlanta used six pitchers in the contest, while Washington sent seven men to the hill.
