Verdugo singles in White in bottom of 9th as Braves recover and beat slumping Nationals 4-3

ATLANTA (AP) — Alex Verdugo’s single off Andrew Chafin drove in Eli White from second base in the bottom of the ninth and the Atlanta Braves recovered after blowing a two-run lead to beat Washington 4-3 on Monday night and hand the Nationals their sixth consecutive loss.

White led off the ninth with a single off Jackson Rutledge (0-1) before advancing to second on Nick Allen’s sacrifice. Verdugo’s game-ending single up the middle drove in White.

Grant Holmes allowed one run and four hits, including a fourth-inning homer by James Wood, in 6 1/3 innings.

Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs with two hits, including a 464-foot homer off Jake Irvin in the fifth.

Raisel Iglesias (3-3) blew a 3-1 lead in the ninth. Following one-out singles by Keibert Ruiz and Luis García Jr., Josh Bell grounded out to Iglesias on the mound. With runners on second and third, Iglesias got Dylan Crews to hit a grounder to Allen, who threw wide of first baseman Matt Olson for an error, allowing two runs to score to tie it.

Key moment

Michael Harris II robbed García of an extra-base hit with an unlikely catch at the wall in the fourth. Running with his back to the plate, Harris reached up for the catch before banging into the wall and hanging onto the ball.

Harris then shook his head as if he didn’t believe he made the catch. Holmes watched from the mound in shock, holding his glove and right hand on top of his cap.

Key stat

Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson played in his 661st consecutive game, the majors’ longest active streak. His streak began on May 2, 2021.

Up next

Atlanta right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach will look for his second win when former Braves right-hander Michael Soroka starts for the Nationals on Tuesday night.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb