Nationals 7, Braves 0
WASHINGTON -- Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer and starter Doug Fister threw seven shutout innings as the Washington Nationals rolled to their sixth straight victory, 7-0 over the Atlanta Braves, on Thursday.
The Nationals (40-33) completed a three-game sweep of the Braves (35-38). Washington has won eight straight against Atlanta and holds an 8-1 lead in the season series.
Desmond has been fighting through a long slump -- batting just .111 in his previous 15 games -- but he helped the Nationals in this series. He got the winning sacrifice fly in a 2-1 victory Wednesday and went 2-for-4 on Thursday, including a third-inning homer. He also scored two runs while his average moved up four points to .224.
Fister (3-3) shut down the Braves from the start. He allowed just four hits, struck out four and walked one as Atlanta threatened just once.
The seven shutout innings extended a strong run by the Washington starters in recent days. They have not allowed a run in 41 1/3 innings -- a franchise record, snapping the previous mark of 39 set in August 1981 when the team played in Montreal.
Some early Atlanta errors helped the Nationals score three times in the first two innings and ruin the second career start of right-hander Matt Wisler (1-1). The miscues hurt badly and were a big reason he allowed six runs (four earned) on nine hits in four innings.
Center fielder Denard Span singled to start the bottom of the first, but right fielder Nick Markakis bobbled the ball for an error, ending his major-league-record streak of 398 games in the outfield without a miscue.
Span moved to second and later scored on third baseman Yunel Escobar's groundout for a 1-0 lead.
Catcher Wilson Ramos doubled to start the second and scored when third baseman Kelly Johnson made a throwing error on Desmond's grounder. Desmond later made it a 3-0 lead when he scored on center fielder Michael A. Taylor's double.
First baseman Clint Robinson made it 4-0 with an RBI single in the third. Escobar just beat the tag of Atlanta catcher A.J. Pierzynski, a play that stood after the Braves challenged.
Desmond added his two-run homer later in the inning to put Washington up 6-0.
Right fielder Matt den Dekker came into the game in the eighth and got an RBI single for a 7-0 lead. Atlanta's third error led to a third unearned run.
NOTES: Washington RF Bryce Harper and INF Anthony Rendon both were held out of the starting lineup. Harper got a cramp while running out a double in the 11th inning Wednesday, but manager Matt Williams wouldn't say much about either player other than they're getting a day off and would be available. The skipper said Rendon was battling a "bit of an issue" with his quad. ... The Washington starting staff came into the game having not allowed a run in a team-record 34 1/3 straight innings. That's the best in the major leagues since the Cardinals (34 innings) two years ago. ... Atlanta RF Nick Markakis made an error in the first that ended his streak of 398 games without a miscue. He bobbled CF Denard Span's single, letting him move to second. That's a major-league record for outfielders; the previous mark was 392. ... Markakis banged out three hits in the first two games of this series and leads the team with 25 multi-hit efforts in 2015. That was tied for fourth-best in the National League entering this game.