Braves Come Out On Top In Pitcher's Duel

ATLANTA 1, WASHINGTON 0

With a final swing and a miss by Ronnie Belliard, Rafael Soriano capped a wild pitching duel as the Braves squeaked by the Nationals, winning 1-0.

Jair Jurrjens and John Lannan locked horns for a long pitching duel. They both walked two and struck out four. Jurrjens allowed six hits in his 7 2/3 inning stint and was removed after his two walks in the eighth. Mike Gonzalez struck out Adam Dunn to keep it a scoreless game.

In the top of the ninth, Matt Diaz singled off of Garrett Mock with one out. After Casey Kotchman grounded into a force out at second base, Jordan Schafer worked a walk. Manny Acta then decided to bring in lefty Mike Hinckley to face a pinch-hitter, righty Martin Prado. The Atlanta pinch-hitter worked a walk to load the bases and then Hinckley was left in to face Kelly Johnson. He seemed to labor and Johnson coaxed a five-pitch walk out of him as well, forcing in the run.

Rafael Soriano struck out Elijah Dukes and Ronnie Belliard in the final frame to end the game and give the Braves their second win in six games on the road trip. It's a shame that Jurrjens didn't get the win; he pitched wonderfully and very efficiently. It was a sight to see.

W - Mike Gonzalez (1-0)
L - Mike Hinckley (1-1)
S - Rafael Soriano (2)

THREE STARS

GOLD
P Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta - 7 2/3 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

SILVER
P John Lannan, Washington - 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

BRONZE
P Rafael Soriano, Atlanta - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2-2 SV

AP Photo by Alex Brandon

Nationals Pull Out Second One-Run Victory Over Reeling Braves

WASHINGTON 4, ATLANTA 3

Joel Hanrahan pitched out of a major jam in the ninth inning and the Washington Nationals won their second straight one-run decision against Atlanta by a 4-3 score.

The Braves scored three in the top of the first inning off of Washington starter Shairon Martis. Casey Kotchman drove in Chipper Jones with a two-out double and Jeff Francoeur hit a ball to shortstop that scored two runs. Brian McCann scored on the infield hit and Casey Kotchman scored on the throwing error by shortstop Alberto Gonzalez.

The Nationals scored a run with a Jesus Flores double off of Braves starter Kenshin Kawakami. They continued the scoring in the sixth inning after Martis held the Braves off the board since then.

Adam Dunn led off the inning with a solo homer. After Elijah Dukes reached on an error by Chipper Jones, Austin Kearns hit a liner to left that Matt Diaz lost in the stadium lights. Kearns got a triple out of that. Jeff Bennett relieved Kawakami and struck out Jesus Flores. Alberto Gonzalez attempted a bunt next, but McCann threw him out. Pinch-hitter Josh Willingham then lined the second pitch he saw into left, scoring Kearns.

The bullpens of both teams held each other scoreless. In the top of the ninth, Joel Hanrahan came on to close the game. He led off the inning by walking Diaz on four pitches. The next batter, Jordan Schafer, slapped a hit into right field that he stretched into a double and Diaz reached third. Pinch-hitter Greg Norton then bounced back to Hanrahan for the first out. Kelly Johnson then attempted to swing at a changeup and got out in front of it, popping it up behind second base. With two out, Yunel Escobar hit a hard grounder on the first pitch, but it bounced right to Anderson Hernandez for the game-ending groundout.

I saw that ninth inning. Two words: incredibly frustrating.

W - Shairon Martis (2-0)
L - Kenshin Kawakami (1-2)
S - Joel Hanrahan (2)
HR - Adam Dunn (4)

THREE STARS

GOLD
RF Austin Kearns, Washington - 1-2, 3B, 2 R, 2 BB, RBI

SILVER
PH Josh Willingham, Washington - 1-1, GA 1B, RBI

BRONZE
CF Jordan Schafer, Atlanta - 2-3, 2 2B, BB

AP Photo By Alex Brandon

Two Rain Delays Don't Spoil Debut For Zimmerman

WASHINGTON 3, ATLANTA 2

The Braves and Nationals played through two long rain delays, but Jordan Zimmerman was able to seize the moment and pitch six effective innings as the Nationals came from behind to win 3-2.

Zimmerman pitched six innings and allowed six hits and two runs. His only mistake was giving up a two-run shot to Matt Diaz in the fourth inning, giving the Braves a 2-0 lead. The Nationals tied the game in the bottom of the frame off of Braves starter Derek Lowe with an RBI single by Elijah Dukes and a deep bases-loaded sac fly to left by Jesus Flores that was very nearly a grand slam.

Washington scored the go-ahead run in the sixth with three straight one-out singles, the last coming off the bat of Flores. Lowe managed to get out of the inning avoiding further damage.

Both bullpens pitched scoreless ball the rest of the way. Rafael Soriano had the most trouble, having to work with the bases loaded and one out, but he got the last two batters out with strikeouts. Eric O'Flaherty also had a scoreless inning. Kip Wells, Garret Mock and Joe Beimel held the Braves off and Joel Hanrahan picked up his first save of the year in the ninth, pitching around a walk.

W - Jordan Zimmerman (1-0)
L - Derek Lowe (1-1)
S - Joel Hanrahan (1)
HR - Matt Diaz (2)

THREE STARS

GOLD
P Jordan Zimmerman, Washington - 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO - Major League Debut

SILVER
LF Matt Diaz, Atlanta - 2-4, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI

BRONZE
C Jesus Flores, Washington - 2-2, BB, 2 RBI

Braves Don't Give Nationals A Bailout

ATLANTA 8, WASHINGTON 5

With solid bullpen work and timely two-out hitting, the Braves completed their first sweep of the Washington Nationals since June 25-27, 2007, banging out an 8-5 victory.

The Braves scored three in the bottom of the fourth, all with two outs. Brian McCann walked and stole second. Matt Diaz doubled him home, Jeff Francoeur chased Diaz home with a triple and Martin Prado drove in Francoeur with a single.

Elijah Dukes returned the favor with a two-out, two-run double in the fourth. A bad hop that ate up Martin Prado at first allowed Dukes to score to tie the game.

The Braves didn't stay behind for long. With Omar Infante on first with two out, he went to second on a passed ball and scored on Chipper Jones' single to give the Braves the lead again. Jones went to second on the throw. McCann drove him home with a single to up the lead to two.

Jeff Bennett relieved starter Jair Jurrjens in the sixth inning after Jurrjens' fifth walk of the day. That walk, given to Alex Gonzalez, came back to bite the Braves as he came around to score on a single by Lastings Milledge and a two-out single by Elijah Dukes.

Atlanta scored two more in the seventh on a Yunel Escobar double off the right field wall and a second RBI single by Jones. The Nationals eked out a run off of Buddy Carlyle and Eric O'Flaherty, but the righty Carlyle struck out Adam Dunn with two men on to preserve the lead.

Casey Kotchman added another insurance run with a pinch-hit RBI single after Francoeur's second triple (aided by right fielder Austin Kearns losing the ball in the sun). Rafael Soriano finished off the game in the ninth by getting two strikeouts. It gave the Braves a sweep of the Nationals for the first time in nearly two years.

I was glad to see the timely hitting by the offense and the bullpen hold together after the rain delay sort of messed up the plans. The fast start is very encouraging, and I hope the Braves are able to keep it up.

W - Jair Jurrjens (2-0)
L - Scott Olsen (0-2)
S - Rafael Soriano (1)

THREE STARS

GOLD
3B Chipper Jones, Atlanta - 2-3, R, BB, 2 RBI

SILVER
2B Omar Infante, Atlanta - 2-3, 2B, BB, 2 R

BRONZE
RF Jeff Francoeur - 2-4, 2 3B, 2 R, RBI

AP Photo by John Amis

EDIT: Changed boxscore link to Baseball-Reference.com

Kawakami Shouritoushu!: Kenshin Wins In Major League Debut

ATLANTA 5, WASHINGTON 3

Kenshin Kawakami had a successful major league debut and the Atlanta Braves came from behind to beat the Washington Nationals 5-3.

The Braves' first Japanese player in the major leagues, Kawakami logged six innings, allowing three runs on an RBI single by Nick Johnson in the first and a two-run homer by Ryan Zimmerman in the third. He didn't allow any hits after the third inning and he struck out eight Washington batters. He also walked four batters.

Kelly Johnson led off the bottom of the third with a solo shot to center off Nationals starter John Lannan to cut the gap to 3-1. In the bottom of the fourth, Matt Diaz singled, then Casey Kotchman grounded into a fielder's choice to erase Diaz. Jordan Schafer doubled into the right field corner to move Kotchman to third. After Kawakami grounded out to short, Kelly Johnson rapped a single to center and stretched it into a double when Willie Harris didn't cover second base. Both Kotchman and Schafer scored on the play.

Yunel Escobar hit a hard grounder that Harris knocked down, but couldn't make any play, and then Chipper Jones knocked in Johnson with a single to give the Braves the lead.

Kawakami kept the lead through the sixth inning, retiring the last eight Washington batters he faced. Peter Moylan entered in the seventh inning and struck out the side, lowering his ERA from infinity to 45.00. Rafael Soriano allowed a leadoff double to Cristian Guzman, but he then struck out Ryan Zimmerman. Adam Dunn then walked, but Nick Johnson hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

The Braves added an insurance run in the eighth with a two-out single by Yunel Escobar. Yunel also had two walks in the game. Jordan Schafer had two doubles and a single.

Mike Gonzalez came on in the ninth for the save. He got Austin Kearns to ground out to short and Jesus Flores to strike out swinging. Josh Willingham pinch-hit for Harris and he was rung up with a check swing to end the game.

W - Kenshin Kawakami (1-0)
L - John Lannan (0-2)
S - Mike Gonzalez (1)
HR - WAS - Ryan Zimmerman (1)
ATL - Kelly Johnson (2)

THREE STARS

GOLD
2B Kelly Johnson, Atlanta - 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI

SILVER
P Kenshin Kawakami, Atlanta - 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 8 SO

BRONZE
CF Jordan Schafer, Atlanta - 3-4, 2 2B, 2 R

AP Photo by John Amis

EDIT: Changed boxscore link to Baseball-Reference.com

Seesaw Battle With Nats Ends With Braves Up

ATLANTA 6, WASHINGTON 5 (10 INN.)

A game that saw a two-hour rain delay and three blown leads total by both teams ended with the Braves winning in ten by a score of 6-5.

Derek Lowe started for Atlanta and allowed one run through three innings, striking out six. Shairon Martis made his sixth career start for Washington, going three innings. He allowed a three-run shot to Yunel Escobar in the third inning to give the Braves a 3-1 lead.

A rain delay of two hours and two minutes stopped the game in the top of the fourth. Buddy Carlyle took Lowe's place after the delay and Wil Ledezma pitched for the Nationals.

The Braves added another run with Brian McCann's sacrifice fly in the fifth, bringing the score to 4-1. However, the Nationals rocked Buddy Carlyle, Peter Moylan and Eric O'Flaherty for three runs to tie the game. Moylan gave up an RBI double to Ryan Zimmerman and O'Flaherty gave up a single to Adam Dunn that tied the game.

The Braves went back ahead on an RBI single by Jeff Francoeur in the 7th and Rafael Soriano had a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth. The Braves didn't score in the eighth, so Mike Gonzalez came in to attempt his first save of the year. Nick Johnson led off with a liner that Matt Diaz lost in the lights for a double. Elijah Dukes singled and that moved Johnson to third. Jesus Flores flied out to shallow right for the first out and Alex Gonzalez walked to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Wil Nieves struck out, then Lastings Milledge hit a liner that Gonzalez tried to spear, but it bounced off of his glove into foul territory, scoring a run. Braves announcer Jim Powell said in the radio broadcast that if Gonzalez had never touched the ball, the game would have more than likely been over because Escobar was in position to make a play. Cristian Guzman struck out, but the Nationals had successfully made Gonzalez blow his first save chance of the year.

The Braves didn't score in the bottom of the ninth, so the game went into extra innings. Jorge Campillo did a better job in his second outing, giving up only one walk to Adam Dunn. In the bottom of the tenth, Jordan Schafer led off with a single, then went to second on a groundout to third by Omar Infante. Infante had tried to bunt, but couldn't get one down so he had to swing with two strikes. Kelly Johnson then lofted a 1-2 pitch into right field and the speedy Schafer slid home well in front of the throw, giving Atlanta the victory.

W - Jorge Campillo (1-0)
L - Joe Beimel (0-1)
HR - Yunel Escobar (1)

THREE STARS

GOLD
2B Kelly Johnson, Atlanta - 3-5, 2B, GW 1B, R, RBI

SILVER
SS Yunel Escobar, Atlanta - 3-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI

BRONZE
LF Adam Dunn, Washington - 1-3, GT 1B, 3 BB, RBI

HONORABLE MENTION
C Brian McCann - 3-4, 3 2B, R, RBI

AP Photo by John Amis

EDIT: Added photo credit, W-L-S-HR tally, and changed boxscore link to Baseball-Reference.com's boxscore.