Four-run seventh dooms Nationals in 4-0 loss to Braves

ATLANTA - For six innings they dueled, Stephen Strasburg and Mike Foltynewicz posting up zero after zero, neither willing to give in on a muggy Friday night at SunTrust Park. Somebody, though, had to give in at some point.

That somebody was Strasburg. And that point was the bottom of the seventh, the decisive frame that turned a brilliant pitchers' duel into a 4-0 Nationals loss to a young Braves team that can only feel emboldened after taking the first two games of this big weekend series.

Taking the mound in what was still a scoreless game at that point, Strasburg quickly surrendered all four runs (only three earned), with Dansby Swanson's three-run blast into the left field bullpen the big blow that broke the game open in Atlanta's favor.

And with the Nationals unable to muster anything at the plate against Foltynewicz, who tossed a two-hitter, the Braves walked away having turned a 1/2-game deficit in the National League East into a 1 1/2-game lead in the span of 48 hours.

Each team had seen plenty of the opposing starter prior to tonight. Foltynewicz had made eight previous starts against the Nationals, two this season. Strasburg had made 28 previous starts against the Braves, one this season.

Familiarity, though, did not help either lineup one bit. Both starters carved the other side up with the kind of ease rarely found in a big league game.

Strasburg gave up four hits, all singles, and allowed one runner to reach scoring position through six innings. But even that barely constituted a threat, with Swanson at the plate with two outs and two on in the bottom of the second. Strasburg promptly struck him out to end that potential rally.

Strasburg cruised through the fifth and sixth innings, recording four of his 10 strikeouts. He took the mound for the bottom of the seventh with his pitch count a modest 78. And then things fell apart in swift and frustrating fashion.

It began with back-to-back singles by Nick Markakis and Kurt Suzuki, leaving runners on the corners and nobody out. With the infield playing halfway in, Strasburg got Johan Camargo to hit a chopper to first, but Matt Adams - anticipating a play at the plate - never could get a handle on the ball, leaving everybody safe and the first run of the night on the board.

A few minutes later, Swanson fouled off three straight pitches and then hammered a curveball into the left field bullpen, turning a 1-0 game into a 4-0 game in a flash.

And when Strasburg began fiddling around with his left hand shortly after that, Davey Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard came to the mound and essentially forced the right-hander to depart the game after 107 pitches, with no viable reason to push it at that juncture.

Perhaps if the game was still close, the Nats might have let Strasburg stay in the game. But unable to mount any kind of offensive attack against Foltynewicz, there didn't seem much reason to bother.

Foltynewicz gave up a first-inning single to Bryce Harper ... and nothing else until Juan Soto drew a leadoff walk in the eighth. Even then, the Nats beat themselves, with Brian Goodwin (in his return from a seven-week stint on the disabled list) grounding into a fielder's choice and then getting picked off first base.