Nationals 3, Braves 0
WASHINGTON -- Tanner Roark pitched seven shutout innings and Stephen Drew and Jayson Werth hit their first homers of the season in the fourth inning as the Washington Nationals beat the winless Atlanta Braves 3-0 on Wednesday.
The Braves are now 0-8 this season and have lost their last 13 games at Nationals Park. Washington, which will go for the four-game sweep Thursday afternoon, improved to 6-1 and is 26-9 against Atlanta since June 21, 2014.
Right-hander Roark (1-1) allowed just four hits and three walks with four strikeouts while throwing 100 pitches -- 60 for strikes. Atlanta starter Matt Wisler (0-1) gave up three runs, including the two homers, in six innings in the briskly played game.
Lefty Oliver Perez pitched a perfect eighth for the Nationals and closer Jonathan Papelbon went the ninth for his fifth save in as many tries.
Washington has won four in a row overall and six straight dating back to last season against the Braves, who have been outscored 49-22 this season and out-hit 74-51.
Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman was hitless in four at-bats and is hitting .080 in 25 at-bats this season. He struck out twice and has fanned nine times this year.
Stephen Drew hit his first homer of the year -- a shot to right center on a 2-2 pitch -- to lead off the fourth and give the Nationals a 1-0 lead.
After a walk to Daniel Murphy, Jayson Werth crushed the first pitch from Wisler to left center for a two-run shot to build the margin to 3-0.
Drew made the start at third base as regular Anthony Rendon got the night off. It was the 11th homer allowed this season by Atlanta, which hit just three in its first seven games.
Roark, a replacement for the ill Stephen Strasburg, allowed no runs and two hits in the first five innings. He struck out Nationals nemesis Freddie Freeman looking to end the fifth with runners on second and third.
Roark won 15 games as a starter in 2014 for the Nationals but spent most of last season throwing out of the bullpen.
Wisler, in his second start of the year, made his 21st career start -- five against Washington. He entered the game with a 5.40 ERA in 20 career innings against the Nationals.
NOTES: Braves OF Hector Olivera was put on administrative leave by Major League Baseball after he was arrested in a domestic dispute early Wednesday at the team hotel in nearby Arlington, Va. Olivera, 31, from Cuba, made his big league debut last year in 24 games with the Braves and was hitting .211 in six games this season. To take his place on the 25-man roster, the Braves recalled INF Daniel Castro from Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said before the game: "It's something that this morning you get told the news and it's disappointing. Don't want to comment on it because there's an ongoing investigation with MLB and the local authorities, so we've just got to leave it at that for now. It doesn't matter if you're 7-0 or 0-7 when something like that happens, it's not good." ... Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg was slated to start Wednesday but was scratched because of illness. Manager Dusty Baker did not rule out that Strasburg could start Thursday against Atlanta. RHP Tanner Roark was moved up a day to start Wednesday. ... The Nationals' 5-1 start is the best in D.C. franchise history, which began in 2005 when the team moved from Montreal. ... The Braves' 0-7 start is their worst since 1988 when Atlanta began 0-10.