DJ Herz struck out eight batters in five impressive innings, helping the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 5-1 on Sunday and avoid a three-game sweep.
CJ Abrams contributed with two hits and two RBIs for Washington. Jacob Young also had two hits and scored two runs.
Herz allowed only one hit—Orlando Arcia’s single in the second inning—and walked three batters in his 14th major league start. Jacob Barnes (8-2) pitched one inning to get the win, and Kyle Finnegan earned his 32nd save by getting four outs.
“The big thing about (Herz) is the strike zone,” said Nationals manager Dave Martinez. “We talk about it all the time. It is about getting the ball close to the zone, because his stuff is really good. When he gets erratic, he gets in trouble. When he gets it in the zone, he gets a lot of swings and misses.”
Herz had a tough 27-pitch first inning, walking two batters and hitting one, but he settled down after that.
“I don’t want to chase quick outs (after a long first inning),” Herz said. “I just need to attack the zone, get ahead early and then everything will play out how it is supposed to play out. That’s something that I can control is getting ahead.”
Matt Olson hit his 22nd home run for Atlanta, which had won six of its previous seven games. The Braves had three hits in the game.
Olson tied the game at 1 with his home run against Barnes in the sixth inning. But Washington scored three runs in the seventh inning to take the lead.
Keibert Ruiz reached base on an error by second baseman Whit Merrifield, then advanced to third on Drew Millas’ single and scored on a wild pitch by Luke Jackson (4-3). Young doubled in Millas and scored on Abrams’ single against Aaron Bummer, giving the Nationals a 4-1 lead.
