A player gets a day off … and bangs out three hits the next day. A ball bounces in front of the plate … and the Nationals get a run when the pitcher can’t handle it. A young pitcher allows the first two runners on base … and escapes unharmed.
It’s a far different story for Washington now than it was earlier in the season. The biggest change? The final scores.
The Nationals (15-26) won for the sixth time in the last seven games, beating Atlanta 4-3, in front of 24,631 fans Thursday afternoon. They took threeof four games from the Braves, who entered the week leading the division.
“Don’t underestimate us,” said outfielder Ryan Church, who doubled Thursday. “We’re learning to win as a team.”
Struggling leadoff hitter Felipe Lopez, who had Wednesday off, fell a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. He had the game-winning hit in the sixth.
“It helped me clear my head,” Lopez said of the day off.
Lopez scored a run in the fifth on Austin Kearns’ slow chopper down the third-base line.
Meanwhile, starter Matt Chico (3-4) has a 3.64 ERA in his last three starts. He got out of trouble in the first thanks to a double-play ball.
The Nationals point to all this as a sign of growth.
“We’re making progress,” Nats manager Manny Acta said. “There’s a lot of games left, but things are starting to change and we’re playing the way we want to play. … Earlier in the year these are the kind of games where we left guys on base and ended up losing.”
