Jacob Young had three hits, one of six Washington players with multi-hit games, to pace the visiting Nationals to an 8-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday in the opener of their four-game series.
Young went 3-for-4 and drove in a run during the sixth inning. The Nationals banged out 15 hits, with CJ Abrams, Lane Thomas, Keibert Ruiz, Jesse Winker and Nick Senzel also picking up two hits.
Thomas, activated Monday after missing 29 games with a left MCL sprain, had two doubles. Ruiz had a streak of seven straight hits end with a flyout in the fifth.
Washington starter Mitchell Parker (4-2) pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits, no walks and six strikeouts. Parker opened the game with six scoreless frames before allowing three runs, including a homer to Adam Duvall, in the seventh.
Washington’s Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, with Finnegan striking out three in the ninth to end the game.
Atlanta starter Charlie Morton (3-2) took his second straight loss. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed season highs in runs (eight) and hits (12), with two walks and seven strikeouts. Morton avoided further damage by picking off a pair of runners.
The Nationals jumped on the Braves for four runs in the first inning. Former Brave Eddie Rosario doubled in a run, Winker followed with an RBI single and Senzel drove in two runs with a double.
Abrams hit a solo homer, his ninth, in the third inning. Abrams also homered on Sunday.
Atlanta trailed 8-0 in the seventh before Sean Murphy hit an RBI groundout and Duvall followed with his fifth homer of the season. Orlando Arcia added an RBI hit off reliever Derek Law.
The Braves played without starting right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr., who tore his left ACL on Sunday and will miss the rest of the season. Acuna, the 2023 National League MVP, tore the ACL in his right knee in 2021.
Murphy returned from an oblique injury suffered on Opening Day and went 1-for-4. Third baseman Austin Riley also returned and went 0-for-4.
–Field Level Media