Murphy's early homer sets tone (Lopez's first victory, Nats win 7-6)

The Braves jumped out first when Freddie Freeman slammed a solo shot off Reynaldo Lopez. It was Freeman's 23rd homer of the year, a career high. He has now hit 12 homers in his career against the Nationals.

In the bottom of the first, Trea Turner tripled off of Rob Whalen. Turner's five triples since the All-Star break are the most in the major leagues.

Daniel Murphy followed with a two-run shot, his first homer since Aug. 3, to give the Nats a 2-1 lead. It marked Murphy's 22nd homer of the season.

Update: In the third, Turner crushed a solo homer just inside the left field foul pole. He now needs only a double and a single to hit for the cycle. Ben Revere followed with a triple and Murphy brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center field. The Nationals lead 4-1 over the Braves.

Update II: In the fifth, Lopez got the Braves 1-2-3. He has now pitched five full innings and has allowed just one run on three hits.

The Nationals added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Turner singled with one out. He came home on Revere's second triple of the game. Murphy's groundout scored Revere and the Nationals lead 6-1. Murphy now has four RBIs, Revere has two triples and Turner is a double short of the cycle. Turner is 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI.

Update III: Jayson Werth gets a single in the sixth to extend his on-base streak to 42 games. Ryan Zimmerman's club record is 43. Danny Espinosa added an RBI single later to make it 7-1.

Lopez finished seven innings, allowing one run on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. He fired 100 pitches, 63 for strikes. He's that close to his first major league win.

Update IV: Turner skied a fly ball down the right field line for the final out of the eighth inning. He finished 3-for-5 with a single, triple, homer, an RBI and three runs scored, one double short of hitting for the cycle.

The Nats allowed four runs in the ninth between Yusmeiro Petit and Mark Melancon. Erick Aybar's two-run double made it 7-6. But he was called out trying to stretch it to a triple. Freeman flew out to right field for the second out. Matt Kemp then grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

It was Melancon's 33rd save of the season.

For Lopez, it was his first major league victory in his third start. He is 1-1.

Murphy ended up with a four-RBI night and Revere had two triples. Pedro Severino had two singles.

The Nationals defeated the Braves 7-6. They are now 68-47.