Dansby Swanson made his 500th career hit a memorable one, a two-run homer that capped a four-run rally and sent the Atlanta Braves to a 5-1 win over the visiting Washington Nationals on Thursday.
The shortstop drilled his 10th home run into the left-field bleachers in the sixth inning, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games and helping the Braves end a two-game losing streak and split the four-game series with their National League East rivals.
The winning pitcher was Josh Tomlin (3-0), who worked 1 1/3 innings of relief, allowing no runs, no hits and one strikeout. Sean Newcomb pitched a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts, but Will Smith allowed a run in the ninth.
Atlanta got an outstanding performance from rookie Tucker Davidson, who was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to make the start. The left-hander pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, five walks and five strikeouts.
Washington starter Patrick Corbin (3-5) sailed through five scoreless innings before running into trouble in the bottom of the sixth. Ozzie Albies had an RBI double and Austin Riley knocked a run home with a double before Swanson hit a 3-2 slider for the home run.
Corbin left after pitching 5 1/3 innings and was charged with four runs on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
The Braves got an insurance run against Sam Clay in the seventh. Albies rapped a double off the wall that bounced over the head of right fielder Juan Soto and allowed Ronald Acuna Jr. to score from first base. Albies was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, giving him 14 over the last 10 games.
The Nationals spoiled the shutout with a run in the ninth. Jordy Mercer placed a double into left and scored on Alex Avila's soft single to center field.
--Field Level Media
Washington | Atlanta | |
Patrick Corbin | Player | Tucker Davidson |
Loss | W/L | No Decision |
5.1 | IP | 5.2 |
4 | Strikeouts | 5 |
6 | Hits | 1 |
6.75 | ERA | 0.00 |
Washington | Atlanta | |
Jordy Mercer | Player | Ozzie Albies |
2 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 2 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 4 |
.500 | Avg | .750 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Washington | 4 | 0 | 5 | .129 | 17 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
Atlanta | 7 | 1 | 12 | .226 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 |