Giolito, Ramos and others find way to beat Braves after Strasburg leaves early

On a night when the Nationals lost right-hander Stephen Strasburg to a possible elbow injury, the club rallied to beat the Braves 5-4 in 11 innings, completing a three-game sweep.

With the bases loaded in the 11th, Wilson Ramos dropped a run-scoring single off of reliever Brandon Cunniff over left fielder Jace Peterson's outstretched glove to win it.

Jayson Werth scored from third and the Nationals had won their 14th game out of 16 against Atlanta this season. Over the past 35 games against the Braves, the Nationals are 28-7.

With Strasburg out, Lucas Giolito pitched 3 1/3 innings, the most of any of the nine relievers employed by the Nationals. Giolito allowed two runs on five hits. Was getting the call in the middle of the game a difficult adjustment for a guy used to starting?

"I was actually ready to pitch today, just because it was my normal five days of rest," Giolito said. "And I know I got moved to the bullpen for September, so I was honestly ready to go. Just because, I don't know, it was kind of just a feel thing, I guess. Being in the bullpen is a new experience. I always want to be ready to go, ready to pitch."

Ramos said watching Strasburg leave with the injury and then being able to come back and find a way to win was quite an intense swing of emotion.

"It was a very emotional moment with the things that happened early on, then to come back and win that game," Ramos said. "The bullpen pitched extremely well. They kept it there for us and we were able to come back and win that game. But at the same time, despite the excitement, everybody is a little concerned and sad about the situation.

"I know no matter what happens that it's going to be a little bit before we get Stephen back and he's a very important piece to this team. We're hopeful that it's sooner (rather) than later."

Manager Dusty Baker felt the win was important for the club, but also because of what Ramos has been working on to battle through a recent rough patch at the plate.

"It's very meaningful for him because he's been working on a few things," Baker noted. "He's calling a good game catching. They very rarely run on him. Wilson's, shoot, what's he have, 20 home runs and 73 RBIs or something? And hitting .300. That's a very hard thing to do for a catcher, the way they get beat up. You see the way every day he's getting foul tips on his hands, legs, so Wilson's doing a great job for us."

Daniel Murphy finished 3-for-6 to raise his average to .345, retaking the National League batting lead. Colorado's D.J. LeMahieu is at .342. Murphy is the fourth Nationals player to reach the 100-RBI plateau, which is also a career high for him.

With everything that happened early on seeing Strasburg leave, the team could have easily succumbed to 3-1 and 4-3 deficits. But Baker said that is one reason this club is unique. They found a way to battle back again even after losing one of their star pitchers.

"It was very important, especially it was getting late," Baker said. "I said it yesterday, but this was even moreso of a team victory. We used guys we hadn't used very much in the past out of necessity. They came through. (Mat) Latos got his first win as a National. Ramos got a big hit. Murphy continues to get big hits. Jayson continues to get on base. When they went ahead, you could have rolled over and said, 'Hey, man, the game's theirs.' But I like the way we came back."