WASHINGTON (AP) — Juan Soto and Victor Robles scored, and the Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-3 on Sunday to go on a nine-game losing streak.
Soto, Washington’s only All-Star who could be traded by the end of the month, scored a solo shot in the eighth inning to extend his winning streak on base to a career-high 26 games.
“It took a long time, but we finally did it,” said Soto. “It feels great.”
The Nationals have not lost 10 straight since an 11-game slip that spanned the 2008 and 2009 seasons. At 31-63, they have the worst record in the majors during the All-Star break.
Washington had not scored five runs in a game since a 7-8 loss to Pittsburgh on June 29, a loss that put the Nationals 1-5 behind on Sunday.
“There’s still a lot of things we need to fix to really get better and be competitive every day and play consistently,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “We’re going to be working on those things a lot in the next half, like we’ve been doing. I’m happy to go into the break with a big win.”
The Nationals did much of their damage in game two against starter Spencer Strider (4-3). Ehire Adrianza lined a two-run single run down the middle. Robles followed up with his second homer of the season, a fly to the left that sailed straight into the visitors’ bullpen.
Adrianza added a groundout against Strider in the fourth RBI groundout, allowing five runs in four innings while striking out four.
Maikel Franco’s RBI singles in the six made it 6:3.
Steve Cishek (1-2) threw 1 2/3 innings scoreless and stranded the potential try run for second in the fourth inning.
After a Wednesday doubleheader messed up his rotation, Washington opted for a bullpen game. Erasmo Ramirez started and played three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and knocking out two.
“He really picked us up,” Martinez said. “We never expected him to play three innings and he gave us three strong innings. When he came in after the[third]inning and he looked at me and he was joking around and he said, ‘I think I’ve got two left,’ and I said, ‘You really?’ and he says, ‘No.'”
Jordan Weems started fourth and allowed four hits in a five-hitter span, including RBI doubles from Matt Olson and Adam Duvall, before yielding to Cishek.
“These bullpen games are tough where they bike people,” said Atlanta manager Brian Snitker. “It’s not a sustainable thing, but when you have to do it, it’s difficult sometimes when you have different looks at the guys. You did a good job.”
TRAINING ROOM
Nationals: DH Nelson Cruz (square tightness) was absent from the lineup for the second game in a row. … Washington recalled Triple-A Rochester’s RHP Cory Abbott and voted him back after the game. Abbott didn’t serve Sunday. The Nationals selected RHP Hunter Harvey to Rochester before the game. Harvey was 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA in seven games. … RHP Victor Arano (left knee infection) threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in his second rehab appearance for Rochester on Saturday.
WEST
Snitker will lead the National League at Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Los Angeles based on the Braves’ performance in last year’s World Series. His son, Houston Astros, who beats coach Troy Snitker, will be on the AL staff.
“It’s one of those things, just like the World Series: you’re guaranteed never to do that again,” Snitker said. “We’re going to soak it up and enjoy everything about it. It’s a great experience for my family to do something like this as a family. Not many people can do that.”
NEXT
Braves: Atlanta returns home after the All-Star break to start a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday. The Braves and Angels have not met since 2017.
Nationals: Washington begins a three-game series Friday in Arizona. The teams split a four-game set at Nationals Park in April.
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