Game 52: Braves 3, Nationals 2

Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Braves started off with a unique piece of history but ended with the Nationals on the losing end, as Atlanta took the game 3-2.

Steve Lombardozzi, starting in left field, and Bryce Harper, starting in center, connected on back-to-back pitches for solo home runs to right field to get the game started off of Braves starter Tommy Hanson. Lombardozzi and Harper are the first pair of rookie teammates to hit back-to-back home runs to lead off a game in baseball’s modern era. This was also the first home run of Lombardozzi’s career.

Hanson settled down after, pitching six shutout innings while giving up just four more hits. He finished the day allowing just the two runs on six hits, with six strikeouts. With the win he improved to 6-4 on the season.

Left-hander Gio Gonzalez took the loss with a tough outing, snapping a streak of five consecutive victories. Gonzalez (7-2) allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks in 4.2 innings. He also threw two wild pitches. It was the second shortest outing of the season for Gonzalez. Atlanta’s scoring came thanks to Dan Uggla‘s double in the 3rd inning and Jason Heyward‘s single in the 5th, which drove in two.

Champ of the Game: Craig Stammen came into the game after Gonzalez was forced to leave and managed to keep things close. He threw 2.1 innings of hitless baseball, striking out two and walking one.

Chump of the Game: Michael Morse went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. I know he just returned from the DL but he’s got to stop swinging at every pitch.