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Dukes leads Nationals past Braves

Sep 8, 2008 - 12:21 AM By Guy Curtright PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- It's still unlikely that the Washington Nationals will be able to escape the National League East cellar, but that certainly won't be because of their lack of success against fourth-place the Atlanta Braves.

Elijah Dukes had a bases-clearing triple in the 14th inning to propel the Nationals to a 7-4 victory over the Braves on Sunday.

"It feels good to have some success (against them) for the first time," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "But we have to be realistic. They've had a lot of injuries."

Anderson Hernandez worked a leadoff walk and Willie Harris followed with an infield single. Ryan Zimmerman moved the runners over with a groundout and Jeff Bennett (2-6) intentionally walked Lastings Milledge to set up Dukes' decisive hit.

Dukes, who hit two homers on Saturday, was hitless in six at-bats before his game-winning hit.

"He came through huge in that last at-bat," Acta said.

"I didn't want to go 0-for-7," Dukes said. "I was a little tired, but I had to bear down and focus."

The game lasted 4 hours and 34 minutes, with 17 pitchers throwing 477 pitches. Atlanta left 14 runners on base and Washington stranded 12.

"We survived the fatigue and got a big win," Milledge said.

Atlanta, which lost 8-5 in 10 innings to Washington on Saturday, is 2-10 in extra-inning games this year. The Braves won just seven of their past 27 games.

Steven Shell (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the victory and Joel Hanrahan worked around a walk and a hit in the 14th to record his eighth save.

Martin Prado had an RBI single in the sixth to extend the Braves' lead to 4-1, but Alberto Gonzalez belted a solo homer in the seventh and a two-run double in the following frame to even the score.

Braves starter Jo-Jo Reyes, who is winless since June 13 and a loser of six straight decisions, worked six innings for the Braves and left with a 4-1 lead. The lefthander gave up four hits, including a homer to Milledge.

Milledge hit his 14th homer for Washington leading off the second inning, but the outfielder lost a ball in the sun in the bottom of the inning as the Braves scored three times.

Gregor Blanco tied the game with an RBI single and Atlanta took the lead when Milledge misplayed Chipper Jones' fly ball into a two-run double.

"I tried to stay with it as long as I could," Milledge said. "It was a bright day and hard to see."

Jones, who was 3-for-6 to raise his average to .358, has hit safely in 22 of his past 25 games and has reached base in 34 consecutive games - tied for the third-longest streak in the majors this season.

Gonzalez and Aaron Boone each had three hits for the Nationals.

"It's more mentally tiring than physically," Acta said. "We outlasted them."