Washington Nationals defeat Atlanta Braves 5-3 – MLB Update
The Washington Nationals made a favourable start for the three-game series on Monday, August 1 as they beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 at Nationals Park.
The well-attended game was a good show of offence by Rick Ankiel who drove in homers in the third and fifth inning to give the team a victory.
He was assisted by Jayson Werth who also drove in two runs to put up enough score on the board to bring his team a victory. "Sometimes you say, 'It's not how far, it's how many,' but both of those were pretty far," team-mate Werth said.
However, Werth’s performance was of great importance not only for himself but for the team as well. "One thing, he's getting to play," Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson said. "It's awfully hard to sit, especially if you're capable of being a power hitter
like he is."
Monday’s game started with Livan Hernandez’s well-executed first inning whereby he allowed none of the Braves’ hitters to go for a run. The variation he experimented worked out as the first inning was shut-out.
Jair Jurrjens came as the starter for the Braves as the Nationals’ offence seemed to have made their mind to lay a solid foundation for the game. Rick Ankiel hit a homer to give an early 1-0 lead to the Nationals.
Dan Uggla, on the other hand, was quick enough to execute a hit to level the score for the team. As the Braves levelled the score, the Nationals’ offence came back in the game with the tiebreaking score in the second inning of Jurrjens.
Hernandez was able to single to right to score the second run for the Nationals as he also kept pitching well. It was right in the fifth inning that Rick Ankiel drove in his second and the team’s third run, giving the Nationals a 3-1 lead.
Nationals’ offence did not stop there. While they had subjected Jurrjens to hits, the sixth inning was eventful as Laynce Nix and Ian Desmond score a single each to take the lead to 5-1 for the team, making the game beyond the Braves’ reach.
Braves’ offence occasionally came up with singles to fight back. Davis Ross homered in the seventh to bring down the lead to 5-2. Ryan Mattheus threw a shut-out eighth to keep the Braves’ hitters at bay.
Drew Storen came as a closer in the ninth and allowed a run to Dan Uggla who homered to bring down the lead to 5-3, but could not do anything to reverse the tide as the Washington Nationals won the game by 5-3.
The Nationals put in a tremendous effort as they managed to restrict the Braves’ offence from scoring. Atlanta will be looking to improve their performance for their next match-up.
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