Espinosa, Harper power Nats to win over Braves
Danny Espinosa hit a three run home run in the second inning and Bryce Harper hit his third of the season, a solo shot in the seventh inning to power the Washington Nationals to their second consecutive win over division rival Atlanta by a score of 8-4. The Nats handed the Braves their sixth straight loss and sent them tumbling down to the fourth spot in the NL East. The win extended the Nats division lead to 2.5 games over the Miami Marlins and New York Mets.
Stephen Strasburg pitched 5 innings and allowed 6 hits and 4 runs but improved to 5-1 on the season. Strasburg fanned 6 Braves. He was also 1-2 at the plate raising his lofty batting average to .389. Tom Gorzelanny threw three shutout innings allowing just 2 hits while striking out four. Tyler Clippard his second consecutive save, his third of the season.
Adam LaRoche picked up 2 RBI, first coming on a sacrifice fly in the first inning and a double in the seventh inning to score Ryan Zimmerman. Chad Tracy and Rick Ankiel also drove in runs. Harper went 2-4 on the day raising his batting average to .278. He extended his hitting streak to seven straight, in which four of the seven games, he had two hits. During that stretch, Harper is 10 for 23 with 7 runs driven in. He has 2 triples and a home run. Espinosa was 2-5 with 2 runs and three RBI.
The Nationals improved to 10-3 against their division rivals and 13-10 on the road.
