Nats walk off against Braves in 10th, win 5th straight

Amed Rosario singled home the winning run with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Washington Nationals beat the visiting Atlanta Braves 8-7 to sweep their abbreviated two-game series.

Leading off the 10th, Alex Call bunted automatic runner Robert Hassell III to third before Rosario singled to left past the drawn-in infield.

James Wood had two hits and drove in three runs and Keibert Ruiz had two hits and two RBIs for Washington, which has won a season-high five straight. In his MLB debut, Hassell singled on the first pitch of his first at-bat and went 2-for-5 with two runs.

Jackson Rutledge (1-1) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win and Dylan Lee (1-2) took the loss.

Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna each had three hits, including a homer, for the Braves, who have lost three of their last four games.

Atlanta tied it against Kyle Finnegan in the ninth. Sean Murphy opened with a single. With one out, Jose Tena could not handle Austin Riley's grounder, putting runners on first and second. Olson doubled to right-center to score Murphy, but Riley was out at home.

Neither starter made it through the fourth. Atlanta's AJ Smith-Shawver, who had a 0.46 ERA over his past three starts, gave up seven runs on eight hits over three-plus innings. Washington's Trevor Williams was pulled after 3 2/3 innings, yielding five runs on four hits and three walks.

In the first, Olson and Ozuna hit back-to-back home runs to make it 2-0.

In the Washington first, Wood singled and later scored on Ruiz's double.

Hassell, acquired in the 2022 Juan Soto trade with the San Diego Padres, lined a single to right leading off the second and stole second. Call walked and Tena singled to load the bases. CJ Abrams singled home Hassell before Wood drove in three runs with a double down the right field line for a 5-2 Washington lead.

Olson singled, then walks to Ozuna and Ozzie Albies loaded the bases for Atlanta in the fourth. With two outs, Michael Harris II singled, scoring two runs to make it 5-4. After a walk, Brad Lord replaced Williams and walked Alex Verdugo to force in the tying run.

After Abrams walked leading off the bottom of the fourth, Smith-Shawver was lifted. Wood walked and Nathaniel Lowe grounded to first, advancing both runners. Ruiz singled home Abrams, then Wood scored on a fielder's choice to make it 7-5.

Ozuna singled home Stuart Fairchild to cut Atlanta's deficit to 7-6 in the seventh.

After the game, the Braves announced that Ronald Acuna Jr. will be activated on Friday and make his season debut in the series opener against the visiting San Diego Padres. Acuna, the 2023 National League MVP, Acuña tore his left ACL on May 26, 2024.

--Field Level Media