WASHINGTON _ After Mike Foltynewicz left Thursday's game with a cut on the tip of his right middle finger, the Braves at least had plenty of rested relievers available to get through the last five innings of their series finale against the Nationals.
And when Ozzie Albies hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to get the Braves within a run, it looked like they were in position to stage another late-innings rally and perhaps complete a series sweep of the National League East champions at Nationals Park.
But then manager Brian Snitker decided to use struggling reliever Matt Wisler, a decision that once again produced unwanted results.
Wisler gave up two runs and three hits in the sixth inning and the Nationals cruised from there to a 5-2 win against the Braves, which evened the season series between the teams at 8-8 and extended Foltynewicz's losing streak to seven consecutive starts.
Foltynewicz (10-13) was charged with four hits, three runs and one walk with three strikeouts in four innings. He has lost seven consecutive starts and has a 1-7 record and 7.27 ERA in his past nine starts, including four outings in which he lasted four or fewer innings.
Before that nine-start slid, Foltynewicz was 9-1 with a 3.56 ERA in 14 starts from May 12 through July 25 and the Braves were 12-2 in those games.
He gave up a leadoff double to Trea Turner in the first inning, then a Jayson Werth RBI single before recording his first out.
Foltynewicz retired nine of the next 10 batters before Adam Lind led off the fourth inning with a single and scored on Victor Robles' one-out triple. A walk and an RBI ground-out late the lead was 3-0.
Nationals starter Tanner Roark (13-9) didn't give up a hit until Johan Camargo's two-out single in the fifth inning. He pitched six innings and gave up four hits, two runs and one walk with seven strikeouts.
Roark was tossing a two-hit shutout until Albies hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, extending his hitting streak to 12 games and giving the rookie second baseman two homers in the series and four homers and 21 RBIs in 41 major league games including eight RBIs in his past seven games.
After hitting .170 (8-for-47) with a .550 OPS in his first 14 games, Albies has hit .346 (37-for-107) with a nearly 1.000 OPS in his past 27 games.
The Braves got close, then Wisler gave it up in the sixth. He has an 18.56 ERA and .516 opponents' average in his past five appearances, allowing 16 hits and 12 runs in 5 1/3 innings over that dreadful stretch.
The former starting-pitcher prospect has an 8.60 ERA in 18 major league games including 17 relief appearances this season, and even that doesn't reflect just how poorly Wisler has pitched for most of the time he's been in the big leagues this year. He has a 9.55 ERA in his past 16 games and allowed multiple runs in seven of 15 relief appearances in that span.
