Nats, Perez top Braves 7-3; extend winning streak to 4 games
Odalis Perez bounced back from his miserable outing last Saturday and tossed 6 1/3 innings of three run ball to snap a three-game winless streak and lead the Nationals to the 7-3 victory over the Braves, their fourth consecutive win.
Five different Nationals drove in a run as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead after four innings and never let the Braves get to within two runs. It was Washington's third straight win over Atlanta and fourth in a row against Atlanta at Nationals Park.
Perez had a rough first inning, but got out of it with out any damage. Ronnie Belliard's error got the Braves going. Chipper Jones singled and Perez walked Brian McCann to load the bases with one out, but the veteran got Yunel Escobar to ground into the inning ending 1-6-3 double play
Ryan Zimmerman, who had two RBI on the night, got the Nationals a run in the first with an RBI single. Cristian Guzman hit a one-out double and scored on Zimmerman's base knock to right.
Washington added two more in the second on Emilio Bonifacio's RBI triple and Guzman's RBI single. Guzman now has 12 hits in his last 19 at bats.
The Nationals extended their lead to 5-0 in the fourth. Bonifacio led off with a single and stole second. Willie Harris walked; he had three on the night, and one out later Zimmerman walked to load the bases. Lastings Milledge followed with a flare to right that dropped in for a two-run single.
Perez, who retired seven straight and eight of nine after the first, ran into trouble in the fifth. Pinch-hitter Greg Norton hit a two-out, 2-run homer, his sixth of the season to make it a 5-2 game. An infield single and an error on Bonifacio, put a runner in scoring position. Martin Prado drove him home with a double to make it 5-3.
Washington got two runs back in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Zimmerman drove in Harris, who walked, stole second and moved to third on a ground out, with a sac fly.
After Zimmerman's sac fly, Milledge, who had two hits on the night, doubled and scored on Belliard's second single of the night.
The Nationals bullpen did another outstanding job by tossing 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. Charlie Manning, Marco Estrada, Saul Rivera and Steven Shell allowed only one hit before turning the ball over to closer Joel Hanrahan.
Hanrahan came in, with runners on first and second, and got the final two outs to nail down his seventh save.
Final Linescore
Braves 3-8-1
Nationals 7-10-2
WP-Perez (6-10)
LP-Campillo (7-7)
SV-Hanrahan (7)
HR-Norton (6)
Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog
Perez's quality night
Perez was solid tonight. An error and a mental mistake cost him a run and sent him to the showers a bit earlier than he would've liked. Emilio Bonifacio's error in the fifth led to an unearned run and Perez not covering the bag in the seventh had Manny Acta pull him with one out. Overall, another quality start for the veteran lefty.
6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, WP, HR. 95 pitches, 60 strikes.
Nationals scoring, 6th inning
Small ball led to the Nationals first run of the sixth and two base hits led to the second. Washington now has a four-run cushion after the Braves made it a 5-3 game in the fifth.
Willie Harris drew a lead-off walk, his third base on balls of the night, stole second, moved to third on Cristian Guzman's ground out and scored on Ryan Zimmerman's sac fly.
Lastings Milledge followed with a double and scored on Ronnie Belliard's RBI single to make it a 7-3 game.
Perez thru 6 innings
Perez gave up three runs, two earned, in the fifth, but he bounced back and retired the Braves in order in the sixth. Odalis needed just seven pitches to get three fly ball outs and he's only thrown 82 to this point.
6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, 3 K, HR
Braves scoring, 5th inning
Odalis Perez was having his way with Braves hitters after getting out of a bases loaded, one-out, jam in the first. He retired eight straight and nine of 10 before giving up a lead-off double to Omar Infante in the fifth.
Two outs later, pinch-hitter Greg Norton hit a two-run homer, to dead center field, and Atlanta cut the Nationals lead to 5-2. Josh Anderson then reached base on an infield single and advanced to second on Emilio Bonifacio's throwing error. Martin Prado followed with an RBI double to make it a 5-3 game.
Nationals scoring, 4th inning
Lastings Milledge, who didn't drive in a run in last night's 11-2 thrashing of the Dodgers, decided to get in on the action tonight.
Milledge struck out in his first two at bats, but delivered a 2-run single in the fourth to put the Nationals up 5-0. With two-outs and the bases loaded, Milledge blooped a single to right, scoring Emilio Bonifacio and Willie Harris.
Perez thru 3 innings
Odalis has settled down since the rough first inning where he threw 24 pitches. Perez has retired the last seven and needed only 19 pitches to do it. He looks to be locked in and ready to dominate from here on out.
3 IP, H, BB, 2 K
Nationals scoring, 2nd inning
Speed led to the nationals taking a 2-0 lead in the Braves in the second inning.
Elijah Dukes led-off with a double to left. Dukes hit the ball hard with a lot of top spin and Chipper Jones barely got a piece of it. The ball was slowed down just enough for Dukes to leg out a two-base hit.
One out later, Emilio Bonifacio tripled to right, scoring Dukes easily. After Jorge Campillo got an out and walked Willie Harris, Cristian Guzman singled to score Bonifacio.
Nationals scoring, 1st inning
Cristian Guzman picked up where he left off last night and it led to the Nationals taking a 1-0 lead.
Guzman hit a one-out double, over the head of right fielder Jeff Francoeur, and scored on Ryan Zimmerman's single. Guzman has 11 hits in his last 15 at bats.
Braves missed chance
Odalis Perez nearly got into big trouble in the first inning, but like savvy veterans usually do, he managed to get out of the inning unscathed.
Perez loaded the bases on an error, single and walk, before getting Yunel Escobar to ground into the 1-6-3 inning ending double play.
Ronnie Belliard dropped a throw from Ryan Zimmerman and Chipper Jones singled before Perez walked Brian McCann, on four pitches, to load the bags. Escobar hit a come-backer to Perez, who fired to Cristian Guzman for the second out and Guzman threw to first for the double dip.
Starting Line-Ups
Braves:
CF Josh Anderson
1B Martin Prado
3B Chipper C. Jones
C Brian McCann
SS Yunel Escobar
LF Omar Infante
RF Jeff Francoeur
2B Kelly Johnson
P Jorge Campillo
Nationals:
LF Willie Harris
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
CF Lastings Milledge
1B Ronnie Belliard
RF Elijah Dukes
C Jesus Flores
2B Emilio Bonifacio
P Odalis Perez
Game Preview
Atlanta (59-75) at Nationals (49-85)
Fresh off their three-game sweep of the Dodgers, the Nationals welcome the Braves to Nationals Park for a weekend series.
Washington is 7-4 against Atlanta this season and 4-2 at home. The Nationals have won two straight over the Braves and three in a row in DC.
Atlanta, who just took two of three from the Marlins at Turner Field, has only one win in their last seven road games, getting outscored 50-25.
Last night, Cristian Guzman hit for the cycle and drove in three runs and Elijah Dukes hit two homers and had four RBI as the Nationals routed the Dodgers 11-2.
Tonight, Odalis Perez is looking to end a three game winless streak. The Braves send Jorge Campillo to the bump to end Atlanta's two game skid to the Nationals.
Pitching Match-Up
LHP Odalis Perez (5-10, 4.21) is coming off his worst outing in nearly a month when the Cubs pounded the veteran lefty for five runs, four earned, on 10 hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings last Saturday at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
The Cubs had Perez on the ropes from the first inning thru the fourth and delivered the knockout punch in the fifth. Chicago had five hits and eight base runners in the first three innings but couldn't push a run across. That all changed in the fourth.
With one-out, the next five Cubs reached base and the big blow was Aramis Ramirez's 3-run homer to put Chicago up 4-0. Perez gave up an unearned run in the fifth and that was the end of his day. He needed 88 pitches to get 13 outs.
Perez is making his third start against the Braves this season. He's 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA. Perez got rocked for five runs on nine hits in five innings on July 20th, but the Nationals scored 15 runs and Perez picked up the win.
Mark Teixeira hit a solo homer and drove in a second run with a single, and pinch-hitter Martin Prado hit a 2-run tater off Perez.
In his other start against the Braves, Perez gave up one run in five innings. Ryan Zimmerman's walk-off home run gave the Nationals the 3-2 win in the first game at Nationals Park on opening night.
In his career vs. Atlanta, nine games, eight starts, he is 2-3 with a 5.25 ERA. Perez is 1-5 with a 2.54 ERA at home this season.
RHP Jorge Campillo (7-6, 3.37) is winless in his last three starts after going undefeated in his previous six. Campillo was decent in his last outing, an 8-4 win over St. Louis, last Saturday. He allowed three runs in seven innings but received a no-decision.
The converted reliever is making his 20th start this season. He's appeared in three games against the Nationals this season, but none as a starter. Campillo has allowed five runs, one earned, in 3 2/3 innings vs. Washington. The Braves are 0-3 in those games.
On April 22nd, Campillo turned a 1-0 deficit into a 6-0 blowout loss. The Nationals scored five times off Campillo in the ninth. With one-out, Lastings Milledge doubled and Wil Nieves walked before Campillo's error opened the flood gates. Milledge scored on the play and Felipe Lopez followed with an RBI single.
Campillo left the game, but three more runs scored, all charged to him. Four of the runs were unearned.
Campillo is making his ninth road start of the season. He's 4-2 with a 3.25 ERA.
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