WASHINGTON (AP) — James Wood homered, Luis García Jr. had four hits and the Washington Nationals snapped the Atlanta Braves’ six-game winning streak with an 11-4 victory on Tuesday night.
The Nationals scored three runs before Atlanta starter Reynaldo López (1-1) retired a hitter, and the right-hander was done two batters into the second. Foster Griffin (3-0) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings.
Curtis Mead also homered for Washington, and Drake Baldwin and Eli White went deep for the Braves.
Wood led off the bottom of the first with a walk, his first of four on the day. García followed with a single, and Jacob Young’s single made it 1-0. After a walk to CJ Abrams, López issued another base on balls to Daylen Lile to force in a run. Nasim Nuñez, the sixth straight hitter to reach, singled home a run to make it 3-0.
Wood became the second Nationals player since the move from Montreal to homer and draw four walks in the same game. Bryce Harper did it on April 2, 2018, also against Atlanta.
Michael Harris II doubled in a run for the Braves in the second, but Wood led off the bottom half with his eighth home run of the season. After a single by García, López was pulled.
Baldwin’s solo shot in the third made it 4-2, and White went deep in the fifth to cut the lead to one. García hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
Garcia’s fourth hit was a bases-loaded double in the seventh that scored two runs. Jacob Young made it 8-3 with an RBI groundout.
The Braves scored in the eighth on a bizarre 3-6-3 putout. García fielded Austin Riley’s grounder at first and threw to second, trying to start a double play. But nobody was covering the base yet and the ball went to Abrams, the shortstop, still a few feet from the bag. He threw all the way back to first to get Riley, but a run came home.
Mead answered with a three-run homer to make it 11-4.
Up next
Zack Littell (0-2) starts for the Nationals on Wednesday night against Martin Pérez (1-1).
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