Washington 9, Atlanta 2
When: 7:05 PM ET, Friday, May 8, 2015
Where: Nationals Park, Washington, District of Columbia
Temperature:
77°
Umpires:
Home -
Paul Schrieber, 1B -
Fieldin Culbreth, 2B -
Jim Reynolds, 3B -
Manny Gonzalez
Attendance:
31288
By The Sports Xchange
WASHINGTON -- Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper hit two more home runs and added five RBIs on Friday, and he now has five homers and 10 RBIs in his past two games.
But the 22-year-old slugger was eager to talk about two teammates who also had home runs on Friday in the Nationals' 9-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Left fielder Jayson Werth, who entered the game with a batting average of .176, hit his first homer of the season, and second baseman Danny Espinosa doubled his season total as he also had two homers for the red-hot Nationals.
"I was excited for him. That was huge to see," Harper said of Werth, who had not homered in his first 75 at-bats of the season.
And Espinosa, batting No. 8 in the order, hit two opposite-field homers from the left-hand side of the plate.
"Danny is so good. He is a great second baseman. It is a lot of fun to watch," said Harper, wearing a gray T-shirt that read DC Power: We're gonna light you up.
The same can be said of Harper, who hit three home runs on Wednesday against the Miami Marlins. The last player to hit five home runs in two games was Josh Reddick of Oakland in 2013. Harper became the first player in Nationals history to club five homers in back-to-back games.
"I have a lot of great guys around me," said Harper, who had three hits overall. "I just want to try and go up there and have good ABs. That is what you are going to get out of me. It is a lot of fun and we are a great team."
"He's a special guy, a special talent," said Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez. "Maybe tomorrow we will tell him what's coming. He is locked in."
The power show by Harper made a winner of lefty Gio Gonzalez, who had never beaten the Braves at Nationals Park. So what was the key?
"The nine runs, the five homers," said Gio Gonzalez, with a smile. "That works more than anything else."
Gio Gonzalez has enjoyed watching Harper the past two games.
"That guys on fire. He's unbelievable," pitcher Gonzalez said.
Harper had given the Nationals a 3-2 lead in the sixth when he hit a two-run homer just over the wall in left-center against starter Eric Stults (1-3).
Espinosa hit a solo homer in the seventh against reliever Brandon Cunniff as the Nationals grabbed a 4-2 lead before Harper brought the crowd to its feet again the eighth with a three-run shot. All of the Washington runs came on homers.
With the win, Washington (15-15) is now 10-5 against the Braves (14-15) since June 21, 2014. The Nationals are at .500 for the first time since Opening Day and have won eight of their last 11 games.
Stults, who beat the Nationals at home on April 27, allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. He had a season-high seven strikeouts and no walks but gave up homers to Harper and Werth.
"Stults did a terrific job," manager Gonzalez said. "He gave us an opportunity to win a ballgame. They were able to add on. The first six innings, we will take it. We had some good at-bats against Gio. He kind of settled down."
Pitcher Gonzalez (3-2) yielded five hits and two runs with eight strikeouts and one walk. He was effectively wild as he threw 103 pitches, 67 for strikes, as he beat the Braves for the first time overall since July 1, 2012, in Atlanta.
"He made pitches when he need to," said Washington manager Matt Williams.
Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman had two doubles and has eight hits in his last three games. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals also had two hits. But the night clearly belonged to Harper.
"He's a show-stopper," Gio Gonzalez said.
NOTES: The Braves have now used a different lineup in every game this season. ... The scheduled starters for the second game of the series on Saturday are Atlanta RHP Julio Teheran (3-1, 3.82 ERA) against Washington RHP Doug Fister (2-1, 2.61). ... Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg will need to throw a bullpen session on Saturday if he is to make his scheduled start on Monday in Arizona, manager Matt Williams said. Strasburg left his last start, at home on Tuesday against the Miami Marlins, after three innings when he complained of an irritation under his right shoulder blade. He threw on a flat surface for a few minutes after Washington played a day game on Wednesday at home. ... Washington LF Jayson Werth was back in the starting lineup after he missed the two previous games with a "cranky" shoulder, Williams said. Werth had right shoulder surgery in January and entered Friday hitting .176 with no homers in 74 at-bats. ... Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman entered with a .324 average in 37 games at Nationals Park during his career. He had three hits on Tuesday and three hits on Wednesday for the Braves, who were off Thursday and began a nine-game, 10-day road trip Friday. He was 2-for-4 on Friday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Atlanta |
|
Washington |
Eric Stults |
Player |
Gio Gonzalez
|
Loss |
W/L |
Win |
6.0 |
IP |
7.0 |
7 |
Strikeouts |
8 |
7 |
Hits |
5 |
4.50 |
ERA |
2.57 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Atlanta
|
6 |
0 |
9 |
.200 |
8 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
Washington
|
11 |
5 |
26 |
.324 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
2 |
0 |
0 |