WASHINGTON – The Atlanta Braves waited out the weather with the Washington Nationals, then turned on the power as they worked the late shift to move back into first place in the National League East Division.
The Braves hit four home runs, with Austin Riley’s seventh-inning shot putting them ahead for good as they beat Washington 4-2 in a game that started late Friday night and finished early Saturday morning.
“It’s pretty when he hits balls like that,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Riley’s 399-foot drive to the stands in right-center field.
Atlanta entered Friday in third place in the division standings, a game behind the Philadelphia Phillies and a half-game back of the New York Mets. With losses for both the Phillies (60-56) and the Mets (59-56), the win for the Braves (60-56) put them back into a first-place tie with the Phillies, which is where things stood three days earlier.
The scheduled 7:05 p.m. start for Friday’s game was delayed 3 hours, 12 minutes due to severe weather, and the announced attendance of 24,812 at Nationals Park had noticeably diminished by the time the final out was recorded at 1:19 a.m.
Washington, which led 2-0 after four innings before Atlanta began its power rally, has lost five straight games and is 10 games out of first place in the NL East.
The Braves finally got on the board in the fifth, when Travis d’Arnaud’s third homer of the season went just over the wall in left field. Ozzie Albies tied it at 2 in the sixth with his 21st homer of 2021, giving him four homers and seven RBIs in his past five games. Riley’s 24th homer provided the go-ahead run, and Dansby Swanson hit his 21st in the ninth, setting the franchise’s single-season record for homers by a shortstop.
The Nationals came out fast after the long delay, opening with three consecutive hits off Charlie Morton (11-4), including Juan Soto’s RBI single. Josh Bell added a sacrifice fly, making it 2-0 in the first.
“They kind of jumped us in the first inning before the dust settled,” Snitker said. “That can happen to anybody. You see those first innings like that, but (Morton) settled. That was really good.”
Morton struck out seven batters in six innings, and Will Smith earned his 24th save of the season despite allowing the first two batters to reach in the bottom of the ninth.
The Braves are at the start of a nine-game road trip, with the weekend visit to Washington followed by a three-game series against the Miami Marlins and then another against the Baltimore Orioles. The trio of struggling teams could offer Atlanta a prime opportunity to separate itself from the Mets and the Phillies in the division race.
Swanson said getting the win after the long delay was “rewarding.”
“This has been a challenging year,” he added. “We have a big-seven week stretch ahead of us – even a rain delay, playing into the wee hours of the morning, good way to start the road trip.”
Nationals starter Josiah Gray (0-1) gave up three runs on five hits with six strikesouts and no walks in six-plus innings.
Gray was acquired at the trade deadline when Max Scherzer and Trea Turner were shipped off to the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Nationals dealt veterans for prospects. He has allowed five runs in his three starts with Washington – all coming on solo homers.
“Every time he goes out there he’s giving us an opportunity to win the game, and that’s awesome,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.
Braves right-hander Richard Rodriquez was shaken up in the seventh after being hit by a Victor Robles groundout. He had to be evaluated by Atlanta’s trainer before finishing the inning.