Braves Use Home Run Ball to Dump Washington 8-6
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Harris II homered twice, Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson also went deep and the Atlanta Braves rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Washington Nationals 8-6 on Wednesday night for their seventh win in eight games.
Harris had his seventh multi-homer game — his third against the Nationals. He started the comeback from a 4-1 deficit with a two-run homer off Zack Littell (0-3) in a three-run second that included Ronald Acuña Jr.’s tying sacrifice fly. Harris then homered for a 5-4 lead in the third.
Olson boosted the margin to 8-4 in the fourth with his seventh home run, a three-run drive against Littell. With three four-homer games, the Braves matched their total of 2025.
Washington closed on homers by Joey Wiemer and James Wood in the sixth off Martín Pérez, who had been slated to start Thursday. Wood leads the NL with nine homers, and Wiemer had the first pinch-hit home run of his big league career.
Dylan Lee (1-0) pitched a perfect seventh and Robert Suarez worked around a leadoff single in an eight-pitch ninth for his second save.
Littell tied a career-high by allowing four homers and has given up a major league-leading 11 in 25 innings this season. He allowed eight runs — six earned — and seven hits in six innings, raising his ERA to 7.56.
Washington has lost six of 10 following a three-game winning streak.
Didier Fuentes of the Braves, at 20 years, 309 days the youngest starting pitcher in the major leagues this year, allowed four runs and seven hits in three innings.
Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin homered in the first. Daylen Lile hit a three-run homer in the bottom half and Jorbit Vivas had an RBI double for Washington, which leads the major leagues with 29 first-inning runs.
Up next
Nationals RHP Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.12 ERA) and Braves RHP JR Ritchie start Thursday. Ritchie will be called up to make his major league debut and Fuentes will be optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett,
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