Jace Peterson delivered with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th to help the Atlanta Braves snap a seven-game skid with a 7-6 win.
Joel De La Cruz found trouble in the third inning when Gio Gonzalez got things started with a leadoff single. He compounded things by walking Trea Turner and hitting Danny Espinosa to load the bases. Daniel Murphy followed with a fielder’s choice ground ball that scored Gonzalez to put the Nationals in front 1-0.
De La Cruz couldn’t escape further damage as Bryce Harper followed with a long three-run home run into the right field bleachers to push the lead to 4-0.
The Braves didn’t waste any time answering back in the bottom half of the inning. Dansby Swanson got things started with a leadoff walk and advanced to third on an opposite field single by Adonis Garcia. Nick Markakis followed with a double to left center that scored both Swanson and Garcia to cut the deficit to 4-2. Markakis ended up at third after a throwing error by Espinosa.
Markakis then scored on what went as a sacrifice fly to shallow center field by Matt Kemp. Trea Turner fielded the ball but fumbled the exchange which allowed Markakis to score and make the score 4-3.
De La Cruz settled down and retired six straight but ran into trouble once again in the sixth. After a one out walk to Ryan Zimmerman, Chris Heisey lined a home run to left to extend the lead to 6-3.
De La Cruz exited after allowing seven hits and six runs including a pair of homers over 5 2⁄3 innings of work.
Despite the deficit, Atlanta battled back to within striking distance once again. Anthony Recker doubled with one out in the sixth and later scored on an infield hit and a throwing error by Murphy to make the score 6-4.
The Braves mounted another rally in the eighth as Kemp led off the inning with a solo homer to left off of Nationals reliever Yusmeiro Petit to cut the lead to 6-5. Jeff Francoeur followed with a solid single to center. Washington’s defense continued to struggle as Petit overran a popped up bunt attempt by Recker and then airmailed the throw to first to put runners at second and third. After an intentional pass to Jace Peterson, the game was delayed due to rain.
When play resumed, Gordon Beckham grounded the first pitch he saw from reliever Blake Treinen to short for a double play but Francouer scored to tie the game.
The game would remain tied until the 10th until Peterson delivered against Shawn Kelley with two outs.
Peterson began the day in center field and had a nice running catch where he crashed into the outfield wall. He finished 2-for-3 on the day with a pair of walks.