 Desmond helps Nats win series from Braves
2010-07-29 23:33:00
Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Ian Desmond and Adam Dunn each homered, as the Washington Nationals edged the Atlanta Braves, 5-3, in the rubber match of a three-game series. Scott Olsen (3-2), who was reinstated from the disabled list Thursday, got the victory after giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks in six innings.
Matt Capps pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 26th save, but later Thursday he was traded to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for highly regarded catcher prospect Wilson Ramos. Additionally the Nationals will also receive minor league pitcher Joe Testa, while Washington will send an undisclosed amount of cash to Minnesota.
Wil Nieves added a two-run single for the Nationals, who have won both series at home against Atlanta this season.
Next up will be a matchup against the Phillies and newly-acquired Roy Oswalt Friday night.
"He's a power pitcher. A lot of us have faced him plenty," Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "It's not like a new guy we've ever faced before, but he's been one of the better pitchers in the league the last ten years and he comes right at you."
Derek Lowe (10-9) took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in five innings. Matt Diaz hit a two-run homer for the Braves, who have lost four of six and whose lead in the NL East continues to shrink. Atlanta is now 2 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia, which is on an eight-game winning streak.
"We came in here and in 27 innings scored six runs," Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said. "It's not going to cut it. We played bad defense in the first game and won last night, but it wasn't very impressive. We couldn't get much going today either."
Dunn began the bottom of the second with a ground-rule double before coming around to score on two consecutive groundouts. Desmond followed with his seventh homer of the season to make it a 2-0 game.
Diaz's homer in the fourth tied the game, but the Nationals re-took the lead in the fourth. Lowe hit Mike Morse with a pitch before Desmond hit a ground- rule double, putting both in scoring position for Nieves, who delivered with a single to center.
Atlanta got one of those runs back in the sixth, when Diaz reached with one out thanks to a fielding error by Desmond at shortstop. Diaz advanced to second on a passed ball, then scored on Omar Infante's single, getting the Braves within 4-3.
But Olsen got the Nationals out of the inning before rain delayed the game for a little more than 90 minutes.
Peter Moylan took over for Lowe when the game resumed and worked a scoreless inning, but Washington's bullpen shut down the Braves the rest of the way. Sean Burnett pitched a scoreless seventh and Drew Storen worked the eighth, before Dunn provided the Nationals an insurance run in the home eighth with his 24th home run.
Game Notes
Infante and David Ross each had two hits for Atlanta...The Braves fell to 19-19 against the NL East this season, while the Nationals improved to 18-18.
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