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Nationals beat Braves on 10th-inning walk

Aug 31, 2008 - 5:22 AM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Washington Nationals walked their way to a season-high winning streak.

Elijah Dukes drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Nationals edged the Atlanta Braves, 9-8, on Saturday for their fifth straight win.

After the first three batters for the Nationals reached in the 10th, Vladimir Nunez (0-2) retired Lastings Milledge and Ronnie Belliard before issuing an eight-pitch walk to Dukes, forcing in Anderson Hernandez with the winning run.

"We put together some good at-bats, especially Hernandez and Elijah Dukes' to win the game," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "They worked the count and were able to lay off some tough pitches."

"I love walks. A walk is as good as a hit, and I got two key walks today," Dukes said. "It showed you don't always have to get a hit."

Hernandez collected three hits and three RBI for the Nationals and Jesus Flores added a three-run double.

The Braves stormed to a 4-0 lead in the third inning against Jason Bergmann, who surrendered six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and Omar Infante hit consecutive run-scoring doubles as part of the four-run frame.

"(Bergmann) has been having trouble with lefties, and today, they stacked up their lineup with lefties," Acta said.

Hernandez halved the deficit with a two-run single in the fourth.

"Great night, three base-hit night, I feel good," Hernandez said. "They give me a chance to play, and that's what we need. I feel comfortable and want to help the team as much as possible."

After the Braves extended their to lead to 6-2 in the fifth on home runs by McCann and Martin Prado, the Nationals stormed back with five runs in the bottom half. Flores delivered the big blow off Buddy Carlyle, driving a double to deep center field to drive in three.

Three batters later, Hernandez plated Flores to give the Nationals a 7-6 lead.

"My job is to defuse a situation rather than ignite it. Tonight, I ignited it more than defused it," Carlyle said.

Flores' double ended an 0-for-21 slump.

"After being in a slump, the key was to be positive. I know what I can do," Flores said. "I just keep working every day, and finally today, I get one pitch to drive in some runs."

With the Nationals leading, 8-6, Jones hit his 20th homer in the seventh to cut the deficit to one. Jones joined Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews as the only players to start a career with at least 20 home runs in 14 consecutive campaigns.

"It's just me doing my job. That's how I look at it," Jones said. "A lot of players aren't lucky enough to play this long, but I have been that lucky and relatively healthy during that run and able to produce. Any kind of longevity record is a feather in your cap. I've had a pretty good career. To be standing besides Eddie Mathews in another category is quite an honor."

Gregor Blanco tied the game in the eight with a run-scoring double.

Steven Shell (1-1) pitched around a walk and a hit in the 10th to pick up the win.

Braves starter Jo-Jo Reyes allowed eight hits, four runs and two walks in four innings of work.

"The pitching was not good tonight," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.