It all evened out for the Braves over the past week.
The Braves were swept by the Blue Jays to begin their road trip, putting them further behind the eight ball. A few days later, they’re leaving Washington feeling good about themselves after sweeping a division opponent.
Drew Smyly delivered his best start of the season, and the bullpen did enough to hang on, delivering the Braves to a 3-2 win Thursday afternoon in Washington. After losing four consecutive games, the Braves have responded with three wins. And at 15-16, they’re once again on the verge of .500.
Smyly allowed one unearned run on four hits over six innings. It wasn’t the prettiest showing – he struck out four while issuing four walks – but it was much better than his previous outings. Smyly’s fastball hovered at 92 mph, inducing 29 swings on 62 pitches (the fastball generated 18 called strikes and whiffs).
Unlike his other showings, including the past two when he combined to allow 10 earned runs over eight innings, Smyly looked more comfortable. He recorded only two clean innings, but did a nice job navigating trouble spots. It was the first time the Braves have won one of his starts.
The Braves’ first run came courtesy of Marcell Ozuna, who doubled home Ronald Acuna in the fourth. Ozuna, who smacked a grand slam in Wednesday’s game, has a hit in nine of his past 10 games. Ehire Adrianza tacked on two more runs with a single later in the inning off Jon Lester.
Washington almost rallied in the eighth, when the first two hitters reached against Edgar Santana. An out later, Yan Gomes’ RBI single made the score 3-2. Manager Brian Snitker swapped Santana for lefty Grant Dayton, who struck out Kyle Schwarber and Victor Robles to end the threat. His final pitch was a low curveball that was generously called a strike. Had it been a ball, the Nationals would’ve had the bases loaded for Ryan Zimmerman.
Left-hander Will Smith recorded his seventh save in the ninth, pitching around Zimmerman’s leadoff double.
