Nationals drop opener to Braves 4-2, fall out of first place (updated)

ATLANTA - The mild-mannered crowd of 22,380 at this second-year ballpark in the suburbs didn't much convey it, but tonight's game between the Nationals and Braves was the biggest matchup of these division rivals in at least four years, with first place at stake.

Then again, the visiting club that has ruled the National League East for the better part of six seasons now didn't exactly put on its best show in the opener of this four-game series.

Despite two early runs that seemed to set the tone for what was yet to come, the Nationals went silent at the plate the rest of the evening and made a couple of sloppy mistakes in the field that helped contribute to a 4-2 loss and flip-flop the top two spots in the division.

The Nats arrived in town having just taken over first place the previous night. They'll return to SunTrust Park on Friday once again trailing the Braves by 1/2 game. They'll need to play better ball the rest of the weekend to regain their top-dog status.

"I always say this: Little things," lamented manager Davey Martinez, speaking specifically to a third-inning blooper by Ozzie Albies that fell in between Trea Turner and Juan Soto in shallow left field and led to a run. "Missed a popup. Trea missed the ball, allowed Albies to score. Those things hurt when you're playing other teams, giving 28-29 outs."

Washington's bats were mostly silenced by Atlanta starter Sean Newcomb (who retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced) and relievers Dan Winkler and Arodys Vizcaíno.

That wasn't enough offense to overcome an erratic start by Tanner Roark, who pitched well at times but was done in by a couple of big hits allowed, not to mention the defensive mistakes behind him.

Roark found himself trying to pitch out of trouble all night, with the leadoff man reaching base five times in the first six innings. The right-hander was to blame for the Braves' first two runs scoring in the bottom of the second, but his defense betrayed him in allowing another run to score in the bottom of the third.

It began with Albies' fly ball into shallow left field, which rookie Soto watched fall in front of him, perhaps expecting Turner to have been in position to make the play. The problem: The shortstop was shifted to the right side of second base with Albies at the plate and thus had a ridiculously long run to even get to the ball.

Turner, though, took responsibility for the mistake, citing Soto's positioning at the start of the play.

"I kind of forgot in my head how far he had to run," Turner said. "And when the ball went so high, I figured I ran so far I was like: 'OK, Juan's going to have that.' Then by the time I looked at him, I felt like I should have had the ball at that point. That's on me. I need to know where those guys are playing and make sure I catch every ball that I can catch."

The Nats compounded matters when Freddie Freeman sent a hit down the right field line and tried to reach second base. Bryce Harper's throw short-hopped Turner and skipped away, and that allowed Albies to score the go-ahead run.

"It happens," Roark said. "Errors happen. I don't make perfect pitches every time, so it's just one of those things. Nothing you can do about it, so move on to the next guy."

Roark did just about everything else in his power to make sure the Braves didn't tack on any runs after that, pitching his way out of self-inflicted jams by inducing double-play grounders and also watching as teammates Anthony Rendon and Mark Reynolds made nifty plays on tough grounders that could have produced more runs.

But Roark couldn't put up one more zero in the seventh, despite retiring the inning's first two batters. Atlanta got the insurance run it sought thanks to a two-out single by Ender Inciarte and a subsequent double by Albies. It could've been much worse, but Wander Suero caught Tyler Flowers looking at a 2-2 cutter at the knees to strand the bases loaded and at least give his teammates a chance to mount a late rally.

They had one last shot late, after Michael A. Taylor sent a two-out double to deep left field and brought pinch-hitter Matt Adams to the plate. Adams did rope a pitch from Vizcaíno down the right field line that for a moment looked like a game-tying homer before it hooked about 10 feet foul.

"From where I'm standing, it clearly was foul," Martinez said. "But he put a good swing on it. That's what Matty does, and it was a great spot for him."

Alas, Vizcaíno's next pitch to Adams was called strike three by Dan Bellino despite its location well outside the zone, and the Nationals were left to ponder a 4-2 loss to a Braves club that - intense fan interest or not - looks determined to keep this race going through the summer.