ATLANTA – Joc Pederson hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the 10th inning, lifting the Atlanta Braves to a 7-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night.
Ozzie Albies opened the extra inning on second base per tiebreaker rules and advanced to third on a flyout. He scampered home on Pederson’s bases-loaded single against Wander Suero (2-3).
Stephen Vogt hit two solo home runs for Atlanta, which took of three in the series between National League East Division teams. Adam Duvall, Freddie Freeman and Jorge Soler also connected for the Braves, who are in first place as they seek their fourth straight division title after reaching the NL Championship Series last fall.
“That’s what happens in the postseason,” Pederson said. “You play good teams and they score runs late, and you get down and you can crumble or you can fight, and we showed we had some fight in there today. A lot of great at-bats towards the end of the game. Freddie and Duvall came up huge, and that’s what it takes in October.”
The Braves moved 3 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 4-3 to the Colorado Rockies.