Nationals 3, Braves 1
WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg threw five scoreless innings in his return to the rotation and third baseman Anthony Rendon had four singles in four at-bats and one RBI as the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Tuesday in a rain-delayed contest that ended just after midnight in the East.
Strasburg (4-5) kept the momentum going for the Washington starters, who allowed just one run in the last four games covering 28 1/3 innings. The right-hander posted his first win since May 17 against the Padres in his native San Diego.
The Washington offense was also aided by center fielder Denard Span and left fielder Michael A. Taylor, who each had two hits and a run, and three hits from catcher Wilson Ramos.
Atlanta center fielder Cameron Maybin hit a solo homer with two outs in the eighth off Matt Thornton to break up the shutout and cut the lead to 3-1. Dave Carpenter came in with two outs and two on in the eighth to retire third baseman Juan Uribe, and Drew Storen pitched the ninth for his 21st save as he retired Maybin on a foul pop to the catcher for the last out with the bases loaded.
The first-place Nationals (38-33) won their fourth game in a row while the third-place Braves (35-36) had their three-game winning streak snapped. Washington has won six in a row over the Braves, who were without injured first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Tanner Roark, making his first appearance since June 16, went two innings and retired all six batters after taking over for Strasburg in the sixth.
The losing pitcher was Alex Wood (4-5), who yielded three runs and 10 hits (nine singles) in seven innings. Nick Markakis, the Atlanta right fielder, had three singles.
The last Washington starting pitcher to give up a run was rookie Joe Ross, who allowed one on Friday in 7 1/3 innings to Pittsburgh. That was followed by a no-hit shutout Saturday by Max Scherzer and seven scoreless innings by Gio Gonzalez in a 9-2 win Sunday over the Pirates.
Span led off the first with a double and scored when Rendon hit a shot down the first-base line for an RBI single and a 1-0 lead.
The Nationals have scored in the first inning in four of their last five games. In their last game, on Sunday against Pittsburgh, the Nationals had a franchise-record nine runs in the first.
Span, who reached base in 16 straight games, had an RBI single in the third to make it 2-0 against Wood.
Washington built the margin to 3-0 in the fourth on an RBI single by Taylor.
Strasburg, making his first start since going on the disabled May 30, pitched five scoreless innings while allowing four hits with six strikeouts and no walks. His last of 94 pitches was a 97 miles-per-hour fastball that induced center fielder Cameron Maybin into a groundout to end the fifth.
NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 2 hours, 12 minutes by rain. ... Washington RHP Max Scherzer was named the National League Player of the Week on Monday after he threw a no-hitter on Saturday at home against the Pirates. ... Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg was activated off the disabled list to start Tuesday against the Braves. The Nationals sent rookie RHP Joe Ross to Triple-A Syracuse to make room for Strasburg. ... Braves 1B Freddie Freeman went on the disabled list Tuesday with a right wrist contusion, according to manager Fredi Gonzalez. Freeman had played in 234 games in a row before sitting out Friday. The Braves called up INF/OF Joey Terdoslavich.