Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Washington 5, Atlanta 4
When: 7:05 PM ET, Monday, August 20, 2012
Where: Nationals Park, Washington, District of Columbia
Temperature: 72°
Umpires: Home - Doug Eddings, 1B - Kerwin Danley, 2B - Paul Nauert, 3B - Dana DeMuth
Attendance: 21298

Nationals 5, Braves 4 (13):
Chad Tracy reached on an error with one out in the bottom of the 13th inning, scoring Danny Espinosa with the winning run as Washington extended its lead to six games in the National League East.

With one out, Kurt Suzuki hit a chopper over the mound that the Braves could not field. Espinosa, running on the pitch, made it to third. Tracy then hit a grounder to second that Dan Uggla fielded cleanly then bobbled as Espinosa scored to give the Nationals a victory in a 4-hour, 27-minute marathon.

Craig Stammen (6-1), the eighth pitcher used by Washington, got the victory. Cristhian Martinez (5-3), Atlanta's sixth pitcher, took the loss.

Washington jumped to a 4-1 lead in the first. Jayson Werth stroked a leadoff double off Atlanta starter Tim Hudson and Bryce Harper’s single to left scored Werth and tied the game at 1-1. Harper scored on Adam LaRoche’s groundout.

Ian Desmond then delivered a two-out, two-run homer to left, his 18th of the season to put the Nationals ahead 4-1.

Paul Janish’s infield single brought home Dan Uggla in the fourth to bring Atlanta within 4-2. In the fifth, Martin Prado doubled and Jason Heyward followed with his 21st homer of the season, a two-run blast.

Hudson settled down after a 21-pitch first inning. He lasted into the seventh inning, allowing seven hits (four in the first) and four runs with four walks and three strikeouts.

Martin Prado had three hits for the Braves, who finished 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann, who led the majors in ERA (2.38) coming in, allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings. … Hudson allowed four first-inning runs for the third time this season against Washington. … The start of the game was delayed 56 minutes by weather. Only a small amount of rain fell at Nationals Park, but storms in the vicinity of the stadium prompted the delay.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Atlanta   Washington
Tim Hudson Player Jordan Zimmermann
No Decision W/L No Decision
6.0 IP 5.0
3 Strikeouts 2
7 Hits 8
6.00 ERA 7.20
Hitting
Atlanta   Washington
Martin Prado Player Ryan Zimmerman
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
5 TB 2
.429 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Atlanta 12 1 19 .250 25 8 4 8 1 0
Washington 13 1 18 .277 26 8 5 6 0 0