Braves Walk Off Against Nationals, Win 3-2

The comeback kids were at it again on Wednesday night as the Braves turned an early 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win with a walk off Jason Heyward single in the ninth. While much of the talk throughout the day centered around the trade for Derek Lee, the Braves were able to win their fourth game in a row to maintain their 2.5 game advantage over Philadelphia in the eastern division.

Tim Hudson got the start on Wednesday and while it wasn’t his best outing, he was good enough to keep the game close before the Braves bullpen took over. The Nationals jumped out front 2-0 in the third via Roger Bernadina and Ryan Zimmerman RBI singles. Hudson and the bullpen slammed the door after that not allowing the Nationals anymore runs. Hudson wound up pitching seven innings and scattering eight hits but only allowing those two runs. Just about every time for the last month Hudson has given the Braves seven innings or more in a start and that is huge for keeping a bullpen fresh.

The Braves offense got on the board in the fourth. Martin Prado led off the inning with a double. Then Brian McCann and Eric Hinske both walked to load the bases with no one out. Melky Cabrera then hit into a 4-6-3 double play that scored the first Braves run and trimmed the lead to 2-1. Alex Gonzalez followed with an RBI single that scored McCann and tied the game. It was a good bounce back inning that could have been a lot better if not for the double play.

The Braves put runners on in the seventh and eighth innings but weren’t able to get anyone across until the bottom of the ninth. After an Alex Gonzalez ground out to start the ninth, Rick Ankiel delivered a single to right. David Ross then walked to push Ankiel into scoring position. Omar Infante struck out for the second out of the inning to set the stage for rookie Jason Heyward. Heyward lined a 3-0 fastball to center that easily plated Ankiel and gave the Braves their major league leading 21st walk off win of the year.

Thursday’s game has a 1:05 start and the Braves will be looking for a sweep of the Nationals and to close out the home stand with a 7-1 record.