ATLANTA — DJ Herz struck out eight batters in five sparkling innings, and the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 5-1 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep in a series matching National League East Division clubs at Truist Park.
CJ Abrams had two hits and two RBIs for Washington, while Jacob Young also had two hits and scored twice.
Herz allowed one hit — Orlando Arcia’s second-inning single — and walked three batters in the 14th start of his Major League Baseball career. Jacob Barnes (8-2) pitched an inning for the win, and Kyle Finnegan got four outs for his 32nd save of the season.
“The big thing about (Herz) is the strike zone,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “We talk about it all the time. It is about getting the ball close to the zone, because his stuff is really good. When he gets erratic, he gets in trouble. When he gets it in the zone, he gets a lot of swings and misses.”
Herz had a rocky 27-pitch first inning, when he walked two batters and hit another, but he settled down from there.
“I don’t want to chase quick outs,” Herz said of what he knew he needed to do after the long first inning. “I just need to attack the zone, get ahead early, and then everything will play out how it is supposed to play out. That’s something that I can control, is getting ahead.”
The Braves, who had won six of their past seven games, finished with three hits, including Matt Olson’s 22nd home run of the season.
Atlanta’s quiet day at the plate wasted a sharp performance by Reynaldo López, who struck out seven batters while pitching six innings of three-hit ball. He lowered his ERA to 2.02.
Olson tied it at 1 when he connected against Barnes in the sixth, but Washington responded with three runs in the seventh.
Leading off, Keibert Ruiz reached on an error on second baseman Whit Merrifield, advanced to third on Drew Millas’ single and scored on a wild pitch from Luke Jackson (4-3). Young doubled in Millas and scored on Abrams’ single against Aaron Bummer, making it 4-1.
Abrams added another RBI single in the ninth for Washington, which had six rookies in its starting lineup.
“We’re all taking it day by day and learning how we go,” Herz said. “There are days where we learn something. When we do get that learning experience, we need to learn and go about it a different way the next time. Everybody is just figuring it out, and it is fun when we put it all together.”
The Nationals haven’t made the playoffs since winning the franchise’s lone World Series championship in 2019, with last season’s 71-91 record their best in that span. They improved to 59-72 with Sunday’s win and sit fourth in the NL East, 17 1/2 games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies (76-54).
Atlanta center fielder Michael Harris II, who was hit by a pitch leading off the bottom of the first inning, was removed in the fifth because of soreness in his left hand. Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told reporters after the game that Harris was still undergoing tests and the Braves expected to see the results later.
The Braves (70-60) are second in the NL East, six games behind the Phillies, with five weeks remaining in the regular season. Atlanta has won the division the past six seasons.
The Braves currently hold the third and final spot in the NL wild-card race, 2 1/2 games ahead of the East’s New York Mets (68-63).
Atlanta plays back-to-back road series this week, facing the Minnesota Twins in a three-game set before four against the Phillies to wrap up their season series. The Braves will host the Mets in a three-game series the final week of the regular season.
Braves left-hander Max Fried (7-7, 3.57 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (12-5, 3.54 ERA) in Monday’s mound matchup in Minneapolis.