Ross felt he was just "OK" in no-decision

The Nationals dropped the Braves 10-5, thanks to another offensive outburst that included a five-run sixth inning and 14 hits overall.

Right-hander Joe Ross was unable to hold an early 3-0 advantage as the Braves scored five runs to take the lead into the bottom of the sixth. But the Nationals rallied again, thanks to a two-homer three-RBI performance by Ryan Zimmerman to snap a four-game skid.

Manager Dusty Baker said the big bats against Braves knuckleballer R.A. Dickey provided some relief for Ross.

"Our offense bailed Joe out tonight. He wasn't as sharp as he was last time out," Baker said. "His location was off, but he battled and battled and hung sliders (that) were either in the middle of the plate or off the plate, and so we got him out when we thought he had enough."

It was the third time this season Ross was unable to build off a solid outing. Last Thursday against the Orioles, Ross went 7 1/3 innings and allowed only one run on four hits with a career-high 12 strikeouts.

This time, Ross lasted into the sixth, but gave up five runs on nine hits. Rio Ruiz's two-run shot gave the Braves a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, Ross's evening was over.

Ross felt the start was just "OK."

"I didn't really quite have my command tonight, but I feel like I kind of battled," Ross said. "I felt good out there, but I'm just glad we just got the win, scored a lot there in sixth. Kind of exploded there for a couple of runs, but it was a good game."

The gametime temperature reached 91 degrees for the second night in a row. Ross said that actually helped him get into a rhythm.

"Tonight, honestly, I felt pretty good," Ross said. "It makes it a little easier to get loose before the game, so you might not have to be out there for so long necessarily. Sometimes grip be an issue, but tonight I felt pretty good. I didn't think I had that many issues with weather related."

Baker said it is not alarming that his 24-year-old right-hander would have some nights where he was crisp and some nights when not every pitch was where he wanted to locate it.

"Yeah, that's a young pitcher, still trying to find himself, but there aren't many guys his age in the big leagues with the stuff he has that are trying to find themselves," Baker said. "Most of the time, they're - shoot, he's probably just got out of college. Joe has the stuff and we have faith in him big time, but he did keep us in the game long enough for our offense to do something."