ATLANTA _ Rio Ruiz is one of the few power-hitting prospects in the upper levels of the Braves farm system. But he's showed only flashes of homer potential at Triple-A Gwinnett, and not at all during his two short stints with the big-league Braves.
That's why Ruiz's first home run in the big leagues, a two-run shot against Nationals ace Max Scherzer, felt like a lightning bolt out of nowhere.
Ruiz's homer in the second inning sent the Braves on their way to a 5-2 victory on Saturday at SunTrust Park. The Braves (18-22) are 7-2 since a six-game skid and can sweep the NL East-leading Nationals (25-17) with a victory on Sunday.
Scherzer departed after five innings and a long rain delay. The Braves led 3-2 at the time and they added two runs against Nationals relievers while their bullpen didn't allow a score over the final 42/3 innings.
Ruiz went to bat with two outs in the second inning against Scherzer, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who doesn't give up a lot of homers. Ruiz, 23, was playing in just his eighth big league game.
Scherzer tried to get Ruiz with a fastball on the inside of the plate but the rookie pulled a line drive to right field. The ball carried just far enough to clear the brick on the upper portion of the 16-foot wall.
It was an unexpected moment for Ruiz. He hit 10 home runs in 465 plate appearances for Gwinnett last season and four in 151 this season.
Ruiz was promoted from Gwinnett on Thursday in the wake of first baseman Freddie Freeman's wrist injury. He started at third base with regular Adonis Garcia on the disabled list.
Veteran Braves slugger Matt Kemp added a leadoff homer in the fourth inning against Scherzer for a 3-0 lead. Braves right-hander Bartolo Colon made it through four inefficient but scoreless innings before the Nationals took advantage of his throwing error in the fifth.
Matt Wieters singled to lead off the inning and, with one out, Scherzer hit a bouncer back to Colon. He fielded the ball with plenty of time for a double-play chance but threw wildly to second base, allowing Wieters to advance to third.
The next batter, Trea Turner, hit an RBI single. Jayson Werth followed with another run-scoring single to trim the lead to 3-2. Suddenly Colon's good outing was unraveling and manager Brian Snitker pulled him in favor of left-hander Ian Krol to face lefty slugger Bryce Harper.
Krol got Harper to pop out in the infield and struck out Ryan Zimmerman to preserve the 3-2 lead. Scherzer retired the Braves in order in the bottom of the inning before the start of the rain delay that lasted nearly two hours.
The Braves extended the lead on Dansby Swanson's fielder's choice RBI against Blake Treinen in the sixth inning and a solo homer by Tyler Flowers against Matt Albers in the eighth.
