The Braves made this one look easy from the opening frame. Ronald Acuna and Matt Olson went deep in the first inning, and by the time Atlanta broke things open with four runs in the seventh, the outcome was long settled. The Braves beat the Nationals 8-3 at Truist Park.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| ATL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | X | 8 | 10 | 3 |
Martin Perez was the story for six-plus innings, working around soft contact and mixing in six strikeouts across 7.0 innings. He allowed just one hit and no runs, walking two, and picked up the win to move to 7-6 on the season with a 3.24 ERA. It was the kind of outing that makes an offense's job simple.
Acuna opened the scoring with a solo homer to center in the first, and Olson followed immediately with one to right, staking Atlanta to an early 2-0 lead. Baldwin's single in the second brought home Yastrzemski for a 3-0 cushion, and Smith's homer in the fourth made it 4-0. The Braves put the game away in the seventh: Smith walked to score Baldwin, Acuna came around on a wild pitch by Yean, and Riley's double to center brought in both Olson and Smith to cap a four-run inning that pushed the lead to 8-0.
Washington's offense stayed quiet against Perez and didn't stir until the eighth, when Miles Mikolas had already exited after allowing 4 runs (4 earned) over 6.0 innings, falling to 3-8 with a 5.67 ERA. Crews doubled to center to score Wood, and Abrams followed with a single that brought home both Chaparro and Crews, but the three-run rally only trimmed the final margin.
The win extended Atlanta's winning streak to four games as the Braves improved to 66-45 and sit atop their division. Washington, losers of four straight, fell to 55-57. Acuna remains five home runs shy of 200 for his career, and Perez sits at 98 wins, two short of the 100 mark.