 pitched the ninth in his first relief appearance this season, giving up Dansby Swanson's double and Culberson's second long ball.Of Culberson's eight career homers, four have ended a game. He also has four career pinch-hit homers. Swanson's fifth homer made it 2-all off Shawn Kelley.Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino (2-2) allowed his first two batters to reach in the ninth, but Mark Reynolds lined out and Vizcaino struck out Brian Goodwin and Michael Taylor.The Nationals went up 2-1 in the third when Wilmer Difo reached on Swanson's throwing error and Trea Turner went deep for the seventh time.Turner's homer was the 89th allowed by Braves starter Anibal Sanchez since the start of 2015, but he gave up only two other baserunners - a double and a walk to Taylor. Sanchez struck out five in seven innings.First baseman Reynolds' throwing error in the first caused starter Jeremy Hellickson to drop the ball as he covered the bag on Ozzie Albies' grounder. Hellickson immediately clutched the back top of his leg and walked slowly off the field with an apparent hamstring injury.Rodriguez, recalled from the minors earlier in the day with Tim Collins on the paternity list, retired Freddie Freeman on one pitch before Markakis' two-out single made it 1-0. He settled down to finish with three strikeouts and four hits and two walks allowed in 4 2/3 innings.TRAINER'S ROOMNationals: 2B Daniel Murphy, sidelined all season following micro-fracture surgery in October, has made four errors in six rehab games with Double-A Harrisburg. He and OF Adam Eaton will be reevaluated Monday by the team medical staff. Eaton could return in a few days, but Murphy's status is less certain. Manager Dave Martinez confirmed that Murphy, who's hitting .208 with a homer and six RBIs in six games, looks labored when he runs and moves laterally. ... 1B Matt Adams had negative X-rays after fouling a ball off his right foot and leaving Saturday's game in the middle of the fourth. ... Turner stayed in the game after fouling a ball off his foot in the sixth.Braves: LHP Luiz Gohara was reinstated from the restricted list after spending over a week with his ill mother in Brazil. Gohara, whose father died during the offseason, will pitch in relief.GOING STRONGFreeman doubled off the top of the wall in the third and is hitting .375 during a 16-game hitting streak, the NL's longest this season.LOOKING SHARPTurner was impressive at shortstop in the third, charging forward to make barehanded play to throw out Ender Inciarte and jumping to glove Markakis' hard grounder and bounce a throw to first baseman Mark Reynolds. ... CF Taylor turned and ran to catch Ozzie Albies' fly against the wall in the fourth. ... Braves CF Ender Inciarte ran forward to make a shoestring catchUP NEXTNationals: RHP Max Scherzer (9-1, 1.92 ERA) starts Tuesday against Tampa Bay. The ace leads the majors in wins and strikeouts with 120. He's coming off an eight-inning performance in which he struck out 12 in eight scoreless innings at Baltimore.Braves: RHP Julio Teheran (4-3, 4.03 ERA) will make his ninth career start against the Padres. He's 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA in three outings at San Diego. Teheran went 3-2 with a 3.65 ERA in five starts last month.---More baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Nationals, Braves hope for strong starts 4h ago• 2 min read After Saturday's 14-inning marathon, the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves would love their starting pitchers to go deep into the series finale Sunday at SunTrust Park.The Nationals will turn to right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (2-0, 2.30 ERA). He will be matched against Braves right-hander Anibal Sanchez (1-0, 3.00), who is making his second start since coming off the disabled list.Atlanta won the first two games of the series between the National League East frontrunners, but Washington won the four-hour marathon Saturday and pulled to within a half game of the Braves.Both teams used six relief pitchers Saturday.Atlanta used Sam Freeman, Shane Carle, A. J. Minter, Peter Moylan, Jesse Biddle and Miguel Socolovich. Biddle struck out eight batters in his three-inning stint, but Socolovich gave up two runs in the 14th, including a pinch hit to pitcher Max Scherzer."Those guys did a great job of getting us in the dugout and giving us a chance to win," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said.Snitker did not use closer Arodys Vizcaino or setup man Dan Winkler in the 14th, opting to give them another day of rest. The Braves could add left-hander Luiz Gohara to the active roster. He returned from a bereavement visit with his ailing month in Brazil and could provide long relief if needed.Washington threw Ryan Madson, Sammy Solis, Shawn Kelly, Brandon Kintzler, Justin Miller and Sean Doolittle. Miller struck out five in his three innings and Doolittle nailed down his 14th save.Madson, activated from the disabled list on May 30, gives the team an added dimension in late-inning situations, but manager David Martinez said he will not overuse the right-hander, who has thrown in the last two games."We've got to be real careful," Martinez said. "Here's a guy who wants to pitch. Every time he's available, he wants to go out there. I have to be a little smarter with him and tell him, hey, I know you feel like you're available, but let's kind of give you that extra day." Hellickson, who made the rotation after being signed as a minor league free agent in March, has been a consistent force all season. He has made eight starts and has not allowed more than three runs in any outing. In seven of those starts, he has allowed two or fewer runs and two times he has posted a scoreless effort.Hellickson's issue has been the inability to go deep into a game. Only once has he failed to pitch five innings, but only once has he pitched into the seventh inning. Hellickson took a perfect game into the seventh that day against the Padres.Hellickson has not faced the Braves this season. In five career starts against Atlanta, Hellickson is 2-0 with a 3.21 ERA. He has struck out 20 in 28 innings, with only two home runs.Sanchez received a no-decision in his last start May 29 against the New York Mets. He gave up four runs in four innings and allowed two home runs in a game the Braves eventually came back to win.Sanchez had been out six weeks with a right hamstring strain suffered while running in the outfield between starts. He has faced the Nationals once this season, a three-inning scoreless relief stint April 2 that saw him allow one hit. He has enjoyed tremendous success during his career against Washington, going 9-1 with a 2.11 ERA in 23 appearances (22 starts).
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