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Braves edge Nats

Jun 3, 2012 - 10:37 PM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Jason Heyward ripped the go-ahead two-run single in the fifth inning and the Atlanta Braves edged the Washington Nationals, 3-2, in the finale of a rain-shortened two-game series on Sunday.

Dan Uggla laced an RBI double, while Michael Bourn and Martin Prado added two hits apiece for the Braves, who have won three of their last four games.

Tommy Hanson (6-4) allowed two solo homers in the first inning, but nothing else as he scattered six hits and fanned six without walking a batter over seven frames to earn the win. Eric O'Flaherty worked a scoreless eighth and Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth -- touching triple digits on the radar gun along the way -- to nail down his 16th save of the season.

Steve Lombardozzi and Bryce Harper crushed solo homers for the Nats, losers in four of their last five contests.

On the day when Gio Gonzalez (7-2) learned he was named the National League Pitcher of the Month, he wasn't sharp on the mound, allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings. He also struck out five in defeat.

"I thought he had pretty good stuff, but his command was off," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "He really couldn't get the ball in and wasn't using the inside part of the plate. It's a rare occasion where he doesn't have good command and today was one of them."

Trailing, 2-1, the Braves took the lead for good in the fifth. Bourn began the frame with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Uggla was intentionally walked and Matt Diaz drew a free pass to load the bases with two outs. Heyward then came up with a huge base hit through the hole into left to bring home Bourn and Uggla to give the Braves a 3-2 lead and send Gonzalez to the showers.

"You want to be in that situation," Heyward said. "I want to be in that situation every time I hit. All I can do is go up there and battle and give myself the best opportunity. After that, it's out of my hands. It was huge to come through with the win and I was glad we could get Tommy the 'W' after the first inning."

O'Flaherty came on in the eighth and immediately got into trouble by walking Lombardozzi and Harper, but he recovered by getting Ryan Zimmerman to ground into a double play and Adam LaRoche to fly out to preserve the Braves' lead.

Kimbrel entered in the ninth and blew away Michael Morse, Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa on strikes to end game.

Earlier, Washington opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the second inning when Lombardozzi and Harper roped back-to-back solo shots over the wall in right off Hanson for the 2-0 advantage.

Atlanta pulled within a run in the third to make it a 2-1 game. Prado started the rally with a one-out single and after Freddie Freeman struck out, came all the way around to score on a double into the right-center field gap by Uggla.

Game Notes

Atlanta beat Washington for the first time this season and snapped a six-game skid against the Nats dating back to last season...Washington fell to 16-9 at home this season and 12-7 against the NL East, while the Braves improved to 5-11 in divisional play...Earlier on Sunday, Harper was named the National League Rookie of the Month...Atlanta finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine, while Washington was 0-for-5 with men in scoring position and left five.