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Nationals edge Braves in 12th

May 1, 2008 - 1:09 AM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Felipe Lopez got a second chance with the bases loaded and took full advantage.

Lopez's walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning lifted the Washington Nationals to a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.

It capped a two-run rally in the inning for the Nationals, who won their third straight game while sending the Braves stumbling to their fourth consecutive defeat.

"It was a great win, considering we had four hits in 12 innings," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "Life has a way of balancing out. We lost some like that and now we are starting to win some."

Lopez had a chance to win it for Washington in the bottom of the 10th inning. But with the bases full and one out, he bounced back to pitcher Manny Acosta (0-1), who turned it into a 1-2-3 inning-ending double play.

"It happened once, earlier in the game and I couldn't get it done, so I was saying to myself, I got to get it done this time, and I did," Lopez said. "Fortunately, I had another chance to get it done."

After Mark Kotsay's two-out single in the top of the 12th inning provided a one-run lead for the Braves, the Nationals battled back against Acosta, who was starting his third inning of relief.

The Nationals loaded the bases without getting the ball out of the infield, using a pair of walks sandwiched around an infield hit.

Acosta then walked pinch hitter Ronnie Belliard to force in the tying run before he was relieved by Buddy Carlyle, who gave up Lopez's long single to left field for the Nationals' fourth walk-off victory of the season.

"Well, we walked too many," Brave manager Bobby Cox said. "We dropped a line drive that probably would have been a double play. We should have been out of the inning with nothing."

Saul Rivera (3-1) worked two innings to get the victory despite giving up Kotsay's go-ahead single. Acosta, meanwhile, allowed two hits and five walks in two-plus innings.

"The team worked hard to win the game," Acosta said. "It's hard, I have to be better. I'm the closer and I have to go out there and do my job."

The ending overshadowed a brilliant pitchers' duel between Atlanta rookie Jair Jurrjens and Washington's Shawn Hill.

Making his third start of the season, Hill permitted just one run and four hits in eight innings. He struck out one and walked two.

"He (Hill) was tremendous. His pitch count was really good, he was pounding the strike zone, pitching ahead," Acta said.

"I felt more comfortable today," Hill said. "I felt like I pitched more as opposed to throwing. I just did a better job of pitching than the last couple of starts."

Jurrjens added to a string of sensational performances, yielding just one run and two hits in seven innings. He struck out three and threw just 84 pitches - 60 for strikes.

In his last four starts spanning 26 innings, the 22-year-old righthander has yielded seven runs and just 11 hits but was denied in his bid for a third straight victory.

"I don't care about my personal numbers, just want my team to win and (it stinks) when team the team loses like this. That's baseball," Jurrjens said.

The game was scoreless through five innings before each team broke through with a run in the sixth.

Gregor Blanco had a two-out double off Hill and came around to score when Yunel Escobar followed with a single to right.

Washington answered in the bottom of the frame. Rob Mackowiak ripped a leadoff double to deep center field, was sacrificed third to by Hill and scored when Lopez grounded into a fielder's choice.