Nationals Vs. Braves: Freddie Freeman Walk Off Hit Gives Atlanta Series Win

Freddie Freeman's walk off single with two outs in the bottom half of the ninth gave Atlanta a 9-8 win against the Washington Nationals. The Braves prevailed in a wild back and forth game with Freeman further proving his case as the National League's top rookie. 

The Nationals threatened in the top of the ninth but Craig Kimbrel finally got Jayson Werth to ground into a fielders choice to end the threat. Brooks Conrad pinch hit and drew a lead off walk to start Atlanta's half of the ninth. Jordan Schafer followed with a sacrifice that moved Conrad into scoring position. Conrad was then thrown out at third after Martin Prado grounded to shortstop on a heady play by Washington's Ian Desmond. The game once again looked like it was headed to extra innings as Brian McCann stepped to the plate with two outs and Prado at first. 

On the 3-1 pitch to McCann, Prado stole second giving the National's manager Davey Johnson a decision to make. Johnson elected not to take anymore chances with McCann and issued the free pass to the Atlanta catcher. Freeman then stepped to the plate and promptly delivered a clutch hit to right that scored Prado and gave Atlanta the victory. 

Neither starting pitcher was particularly effective in the game. Washington's Tom Gorzelanny left the game after two innings pitched due to an ankle injury he suffered on a pitch in the first inning. Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens labored for much of the afternoon allowing eight hits and six runs in five innings of work. 

Atlanta took an early 2-0 lead in the first as Gorzelanny struggled with his control. Martin Prado singled home the first run and later scored on a wild pitch by Gorzelanny. The Nationals tied the game in the third. Roger Bernadina tripled to center scoring Gorzelanny who reached due to a botched sacrifice attempt. Bernadina scored on the play as the relay throw skipped away from Brian McCann in an attempt to nab the Washington pitcher at the plate. 

Jurrjens ran into more trouble in the fourth inning as the Nationals would score four times. Ian Desmond doubled home Laynce Nix and Jesus Flores for a 4-2 lead. Later in the inning, Danny Espinosa tripled home Bernadina and Ryan Zimmerman followed with a run scoring double to extend the lead to 6-2.

Atlanta would answer back again and briefly take the lead in the fifth. Wilkin Ramirez led off the inning with a double and pinch hitter Jason Heyward was hit by a pitch. Jordan Schafer followed with a run scoring single to cut the National lead to 6-3. After a Martin Prado ground out, Davey Johnson brought in the lefty Sean Burnett to face McCann with two on and one out in the inning. McCann greeted Burnett with a game tying three run home run that sailed over the right center field wall. Following the homer, Burnett walked Freeman and Dan Uggla followed with a single to center with Freeman taking third on the play. Alex Gonzalez then grounded out to short but Freeman scored on the play giving the Braves back the lead at 7-6.

The lead would be short lived however, George Sherrill relieved Jurrjens and after retiring Desmond to start the innings surrendered a single to the pitcher Burnett. Roger Bernadina then grounded into a fielders choice before Danny Espinosa followed with a two run homer giving the Nationals back the lead at 8-7. 

Nate McLouth tied the game once again with a two out home run in the bottom of the eighth that helped set the stage for Freeman's heroics in the ninth. 

Kimbrel is rewarded with his third win of the season while Ryan Mattheus takes the loss for the Nationals. Atlanta takes two out of three from the Nationals in the series despite sub par pitching performances from Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens. The Braves will open a four game set against the Rockies in Colorado on Monday. 

Tonight just wasn't the Atlanta Braves night. The bounces wouldn't go their way, multiple bad calls were made by the umpires and Tommy Hanson struggled to keep the ball in the park.

Hanson worked 5.1 innings and surrendered eight hits, two walks and five runs. He had a quick first inning, but the wheels fell off soon after that. He probably should have been lifted after his fifth inning of work, but Fredi Gonzalez decided to keep him in the game. John Lannan continued to fool the Braves hitters at the plate and allowed just two runs on five hits and four walks over 5.2 innings. Ryan Mattheus, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen combined to work the final 3.1 innings and didn't allow a baserunner to reach.

Wilson Ramos started his big night in the second inning with an RBI-ground-rule double to give the Nats a 1-0 lead. John Lannan hit a seeing-eye single up the middle to bring in two more. Alex Gonzalez countered in the bottom half of the second with a 2-run homer to left field to cut the deficit to one. Unfortunately for Atlanta, they were unable to cash in one multiple opportunities with runners in scoring position and would not score again after Gonzo's blast.

Ramos delivered the knockout punch in the sixth inning with a monster 2-run homer that drove both he and Rick Ankiel. George Sherrill, Cory Gearrin, Eric O'Flaherty and Scott Proctor combined to work the final 3.2 innings and allowed just one hit and two walks.

The Phillies lost to the Mets, so Atlanta remains 3.5 games back in the NL East. They'll go for the series victory Sunday afternoon as they turn to Jair Jurrjens. He'll be opposed by Tom Gorzellany. First pitch will be at 1:35.

The Atlanta Braves captured their 10,000th win in franchise history with an 11-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. Tim Hudson turned in another sterling performance and the Braves offense took advantage of five Nationals errors while also banging out 13 hits. The result was a blow out win for a milestone victory and a solid start to the second half of the season. 

Martin Prado returned from the disabled list and picked up right where he left off with two hits including his ninth homer and two RBI's. Prado played stepped in at third base for the injured Chipper Jones while hitting second in the lineup. Freddie Freeman also recorded two hits including a double and drove home three more runs to continue his hot streak. Every Braves starter in the lineup recorded at least one hit. 

Ironically the Nationals struck first in this game scoring their lone run of the night in the first on a Ryan Zimmerman ground out. Atlanta wasted little time in answering back as they took advantage of some sloppy Washington defense while scoring four times in the bottom half of the first. 

Jordan Schafer led off the inning by reaching and advancing to second on a couple of errors by first baseman Michael Morse. After a Prado fly out and a Heyward walk, Freddie Freeman tied the game with an RBI single to right that scored Schafer. Dan Uggla followed with a double to give Atlanta a 2-1 lead. Freeman then scored to make it 3-1 after shortstop Ian Desmond committed Washington's third error of the inning on a David Ross grounder. Nate McLouth followed with a single to center that extended the lead to 4-1. Alex Gonzalez also followed with yet another single but Ross was thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning. Hudson popped up to the catcher to end the inning. 

Atlanta would add single runs in both the third and the fourth innings. Hudson singled home Ross in the third while Prado hit his ninth home run of the season into the left field seats in the fourth. 

Atlanta would blow the game wide open in the sixth against lefty reliever Ross Detwiler scoring three more times on three hits, two walks, and another Nationals error. The Braves added two more runs in the seventh on a Freddie Freeman double to the left centerfield gap. 

Tim Hudson scattered seven hits over seven innings while allowing just the single run in the first inning. Scott Linebrink and George Sherrill each pitched a scoreless inning for the Braves although Linebrink did have to pitch out of a jam in the eighth. 

Livan Hernandez deserved a better fate than falling to 5-9 on the season after allowing six runs in four innings of work with only three of those runs earned thanks to the sub par defense from the Nationals.