Nationals 2, Braves 1 (11)
WASHINGTON -- Shortstop Ian Desmond drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly to left field with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning off reliever David Aardsma as the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 on Wednesday night.
The liner was the second out of the inning and scored right fielder Bryce Harper, who doubled for his second hit of the game.
The winning pitcher was Felipe Rivero (1-0), who threw a scoreless 11th for his first major league win. Dan Eveland (0-1) took the loss after giving up the double to Harper.
The first-place Nationals (39-33) won their fifth game in a row and the third-place Braves (35-37) fell to 16-22 on the road. Washington has won seven in a row over Atlanta and is 5-1 in extra-inning games in 2015.
The Braves tied the score at 1 in the ninth off closer Drew Storen as third baseman Kelly Johnson, who had two hits, drove in a run with a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.
Harper drove in a run with a bloop single in the seventh to give Washington a 1-0 lead. Harper, who has 58 RBIs, entered the game third in the National League in that category but was retired on a high fly to right in the ninth for the first out.
Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann, who threw 100 pitches, gave up six hits and struck out three with no walks in eight scoreless innings.
Hard-luck Braves starter Shelby Miller gave up one run and three hits with five strikeouts and one walk in seven innings while throwing an efficient 86 pitches -- 61 for strikes.
Atlanta right fielder Nick Markakis had three hits. Washington second baseman Anthony Rendon had two hits, giving him six hits in the last two games.
The last Washington starter to give up a run was rookie Joe Ross, who allowed one on Friday in 7 1/3 innings to Pittsburgh and is now with Triple-A Syracuse. That was followed by a no-hit shutout Saturday by Max Scherzer, seven scoreless innings by Gio Gonzalez on Sunday and five scoreless innings by Stephen Strasburg on Tuesday.
Miller entered the game winless since throwing a two-hit shutout on May 17 at Miami. He had four no-decisions and two losses in his next six starts.
Miller retired the first 10 batters Wednesday before Rendon hit a shot into right field with one out in the fourth.
Zimmermann lost his previous three starts.
The Braves got back-to-back singles with two outs in the fourth, but Zimmermann induced shortstop Andrelton Simmons into a fielder's choice to end the best threat by either team through five innings.
NOTES: The Nationals announced that Kimberly Knorr, the wife of bench coach Randy Knorr, died at age 45. "Yesterday was a sad day around here. It was a rough day for everybody," manager Matt Williams said. ... In the series finale Thursday, Washington RHP Doug Fister (2-3, 4.80 ERA) will face Atlanta RHP Matt Wisler (1-0, 1.13), who will make his second major league start since being traded from San Diego in April. ... Washington CF Denard Span has reached base 17 games in a row after two walks on Wednesday. ... Braves RF Nick Markakis was hitting .406 (13-for-32) this year against the Nationals after going 3-for-5 on Wednesday. He entered Wednesday having not made an error in the outfield since Aug. 11, 2012. ... Washington LHP Matt Thornton allowed his first homer in 75 innings when Atlanta OF Cameron Maybin went deep in the eighth inning on Tuesday. It was the second-longest active streak in the majors.