*Photo from MLB.com*
Nick Senzel drove in a pair of runs, CJ Abrams homered and had two RBI's of his own, and the Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves with an 8-4 victory Monday afternoon in Atlanta.
The offense was the star of the show for the Nationals, scoring 6 runs in the first 3 innings to allow the team to coast to the win, just their 4th in 10 games. The offense produced 15 hits off Braves pitching, with Abrams and Senzel leading the charge with two RBI's each, both going 2-4 at the plate.
Washington manager Dave Martinez said of the win that "We hit the ball really well early on to score some runs. It’s a great way to start off, especially with the Braves. They tend to score some runs. We got off to a good start."
Eddie Rosario gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the first with a double that scored Lane Thomas. Jesse Winker then made it a 2-0 game as Rosario scored on his single up the middle. Senzel doubled that lead as he hit a two run double to left field, making it a 4-0 game. In the second, Abrams hit a solo home run. Keibert Ruiz was caught in a rundown in the 3rd but kept it going long enough to score Rosario from 3rd and make it 6-0.
Jacob Young hit an RBI single in the 6th to score Winker and make it 7-0. Later in the inning, Abrams made it 8-0 Nationals as his sac fly scored Senzel from 3rd base. Marcell Ozuna scored in the 7th for the Braves on a Sean Murphy groundout to make it 8-1. Adam Duvall added a two run home run to make it 8-3 before Orlando Arcia scored Michael Harris II with a single to make it 8-4.
It was Mitchell Parker who was the starting pitcher for Washington, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking no one and striking out 6. Derek Law allowed a run in finishing the 7th before Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan had scoreless innings to seal the win.
Parker said of his start "Just a lot of early contact and a lot of ground balls. The fielders were making a lot of plays. There were a lot of fly balls. Keeping the count short and pitch count down and that’s all that matters. We were attacking. The earlier we can get back in the dugout and score some runs, good things obviously happen. I just want to keep that rolling."
Charlie Morton started for the Braves and got hit to the tune of 8 runs on 12 hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings pitched, still striking out 7 hitters. Jesse Chavez handled 1 1/3 scoreless innings before Jimmy Herget pitched two scoreless innings of his own.
Game two of 4 is set for Tuesday night. Jake Irvin gets the ball for the Nationals as they look for their second straight win, while the Braves go for the win behind starting pitcher Max Fried.
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