The Braves scored three in the ninth to beat the Nationals in Viera, 6-4.
Brandon Beachy was rock solid in three innings of work, allowing a double to Chris Marrero in the third for the only baserunner. He struck out four, including Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman once each. If he needed to make a statement for his case of earning the fifth spot, this was it. If it makes any difference, who knows.
Eric O'Flaherty pitched a scoreless fourth, allowing a one-out walk to Werth but getting Zimmerman to ground into a double play. Craig Kimbrel ran into trouble again in the fifth, allowing a leadoff single to Adam LaRoche and a one-out double to Danny Espinosa to put both in scoring position. After a groundout scored LaRoche, Marrero singled to bring home Espinosa. Kimbrel struck out two in the inning, but he was knocked around a little and hasn't exactly warmed up yet.
Nate McLouth bounced back from yesterday's 0-3 with a very good day, going 2-2 with a single and double and also walking once. After a Martin Prado single and McLouth walk to begin the sixth, a passed ball set up a two-run single by Freddie Freeman off Collin Balester, which was his only hit, though he also walked.
Diory Hernandez had another good day, going 2-4 with a RBI single off Cole Kimball and RBI triple off Drew Storen. Hernandez has looked good so far and is solidifying his spot on the bench. Speaking of which, Brooks Conrad went 0-3 with a strikeout.