Braves 3, Nationals 2
Justin Upton lined a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning, lifting visiting Atlanta to its 11th victory in a row.
Upton finished with three hits and Freddie Freeman added three hits and two RBIs as the streaking Braves extended their NL East lead to 13 1/2 games over the struggling Nationals. David Carpenter (3-0) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings to get the victory in relief of starter Mike Minor, who held Washington to two runs on eight hits in six innings.
Upton led off the eighth with his 20th homer of the season, a line drive off Tyler Clippard (6-2) down the left-field line to put the Braves ahead. Freeman collected run-scoring singles in the third and fifth, and Jordan Walden stranded the tying run at third in the ninth to earn his first save as Atlanta improved to 14-4 since the All-Star break.
Adam LaRoche doubled home a run in the first for Washington, but Wilson Ramos was thrown out at home on Andrelton Simmons’ pinpoint relay throw to Brian McCann. Anthony Rendon’s sacrifice fly to left in the sixth scored Ryan Zimmerman to tie the game at 2.
Washington starter Stephen Strasburg surrendered two runs on five hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings, but the Nationals scored two runs or fewer for the 15th time in the right-hander’s 22 starts. The Nationals lost for the 11th time in their past 17 contests.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington RF Jayson Werth, named the NL’s player of the month for July earlier Monday, did not start due to a groin injury but struck out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. … Atlanta 3B Chris Johnson went 0-for-4, dropping his NL-leading batting average to .342. … Upton has four homers in five games this month after going deep just four times in 77 games from April 28 through July 31.