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.
Jacob Webb (3-2) retired the side in order in the 10th to earn the win.
There was no drama from the mound after Washington's Juan Soto was hit by a pitch on Tuesday and Atlanta's Freeman was plunked Wednesday. Austin Riley was hit by Suero in the 10th, but there was no reaction from either bench.
Instead, the teams played a back-and-forth game that included five solo homers by the Braves.
"Mind-numbing, exhausting," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "Proud of the guys tonight. They fought their rears off in that type of game, and the adversities - that was something, some really good performances by guys in a tough ballgame."
Soler hit a tiebreaking drive off Erick Fedde in the sixth, and both of Vogt's homers came against Fedde. Freeman and Duvall connected against Mason Thompson in the eighth, powering Atlanta to a 6-5 lead.
"We battled back," said Washington manager Dave Martinez, whose team last in the division, 16 1/2 games behind the Braves. "That's all we could do. We made some mistakes pitching-wise, and I talk about it all the time: You can't make mistakes to good hitters.
"As you can see tonight, they can hit it a long way, but the boys played hard. They battled back. They bounced back and got some outs for us."
Lane Thomas led off the ninth with a triple off Braves closer Will Smith and scored on Josh Bell's grounder to make it 6-all. The Braves missed a chance to turn a double play and end the game when second baseman Albies threw errantly to first.
Washington took a 5-4 lead on Luis García's fourth homer of the season, a drive to center off Richard Rodríguez in the eighth.
Vogt left in the top of the seventh after fielding a ball in front of the plate and throwing to third. The 36-year-old catcher was clutching his right side, but the Braves didn't announce an immediate diagnosis.
Atlanta continues its homestand Friday when it begins a three-game series against the fourth-place Miami Marlins, who are 15 1/2 games back.
Snitker can't help glancing at the out-of-town scoreboard during games to see what's the latest with the Phillies and the third-place New York Mets, who are five games back.
"I don't look early (in the season)," he said. "I'm looking a lot now. They're out there. They're right in front of us, and I think probably everybody is."