BRAVES TOP NATIONALS IN NL EAST BATTLE AT SUNTRUST PARK

The Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game National League East battle at SunTrust Park; this marked the seventh win in a row for the Braves and allowed them to increase their division lead to eight games over the Nationals.

Highlights of the evening included a solo home run from Ronald Acuna Jr. in the bottom of the fifth inning.

That marked Acuna’s second trip to home plate; he scored on an RBI double from Ozzie Albies that got the Braves on the board in the bottom of the first. Albies reached home on an RBI single from Freddie Freeman in that inning  and scored the Braves’ fourth run of the evening on an RBI single from Brian McCann in the eighth.

Max Fried picked up the win for Atlanta after giving up just one hit in seven scoreless innings.  He also struck out nine and did not walk a batter.  Stephen Strasburg took the loss for Washington.

Victor Robles got the Nationals on the board with a two-run homer off Mark Melancon in the top of the ninth inning.

The Braves will face the Nationals again tonight at 7:20 pm.  The outing will not air on WLAQ 1410 AM and 96.9 FM due to our coverage of high school football.  Tune in for the remainder of the division battle between the Braves and the Nationals on Saturday (upon the conclusion of Alabama football) and on Sunday from the Atlanta Braves Radio Network.