Williams speaks after Nats beat Braves 4-2, cut magic number to two

ATLANTA - The magic number is now two. A win here at Turner Field tomorrow or Wednesday and the Nationals are division champs.

The Nats cut that magic number in half tonight, beating Atlanta 4-2 in a game that turned really tight late.

Washington took a 4-0 lead to the ninth, but Rafael Soriano allowed two runs and Drew Storen needed to come in with the tying run at the plate. A Christian Bethancourt RBI single put the tying run on base, and Bethancourt then moved into scoring position on a Storen wild pitch.

But Ian Desmond corralled a hot shot off the bat of B.J. Upton and threw Upton out to end the game, giving the Nats the win.

Stephen Strasburg delivered a gem, throwing seven scoreless, and Wilson Ramos added his second homer in as many days.

Here's Matt Williams after the win:

On how it feels to cut the magic number to two: "We just feel like we really battled to win that game. Early on, (Ervin Santana) was pitching really well against us. Got a big homer from Willy (Wilson Ramos) again, a couple of key base hits with runners in scoring position - one from Stras and one from Nate (Schierholtz) - and so it's good to scratch those runs across. These guys, powerful team, so they can with one swing of the bat come back, and so we want to try and add on when we can. It was a good effort tonight."

On Soriano's outing: "The ball to (Andrelton) Simmons is up. I don't know if it's a bad pitch to Justin (Upton). It's down in the zone. And then of course had to go get him when he walked the last guy. He was a little bit out of the strike zone more tonight than he was his last time out. But just continued to work on mechanics and getting the ball down."

On if he was only going to leave Soriano in until the tying run came to the plate: "Yeah. Until he gets in trouble. Giving up the one run is not the issue. It's the walk. So you're asking for it with one swing of the bat there. We decided to go get Drew."

On how tough a play it was by Desmond to throw out B.J. Upton to end the game: "Rain, grass is wet, infield's choppy and he hit it really hard. And he was able to knock it down. The composure with a guy who runs really well, strong arm always helps, too. But he kept his calm and threw a strike over there to Adam (LaRoche)."

On Strasburg's outing: "Just throwing it where he wanted to. He threw some good balls in to Justin. He got Freddie (Freeman) a couple of times. And that's important for him to throw it where he wants to. He was in control. He had a little bit of a tight neck tonight from sleeping, but he battled through that. He wasn't on his A-game, but he sure pitched like it."

On Strasburg getting out of a jam in the fifth with Jason Heyward on third and nobody out: "Just made some really nice pitches, good pitches to those guys. We're going to give up a run there. No use trying to play the infield in there. We want to get outs, certainly. He did a nice job getting everybody."

On if Bryce Harper is OK after leaving the game in the fourth inning with lightheadedness: "Bryce is OK. I think he may have the stuff everybody else got. He was a little lightheaded out there, not feeling great. So we'll see how he is tomorrow He may have a little bit of the gunk that everybody else has had, too."