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Tanner Roark Shuts Out Braves As Washington Nationals Win 4th Straight

By Ricky Keeler

Apr 13, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark (57) throws to the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 13, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark (57) throws to the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tanner Roark shut out the Braves over seven innings as the Nats picked up their fourth straight win

It wasn’t supposed to be Tanner Roark’s night to start, but he was on the mound tonight on regular rest against the Braves because Stephen Strasburg was scratched due to an illness. However, on regular rest, Roark was able to bounce back after a tough opening start as the Washington Nationals beat the Braves 3-0 and improved their record to 6-1. Plus, they have now won 13 straight games at home against Atlanta.

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The Nats were also without a couple of their regulars in the starting lineup as Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman got the night off against Braves’ starter Matt Wisler. Rendon would end up pinch-hitting for Drew in the eighth inning. Instead, it was Stephen Drew and Clint Robinson who were at third and first base, respectively.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Drew led off with a solo home run to right center for his first home run of the season. Two batters later, after a walk by Daniel Murphy, Jayson Werth crushed a two-run home run to center field to put the Nats in front, 3-0. It was Werth’s first home run of the season.

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Those would be all the runs that Roark would need. The Nats’ right-hander went seven innings, gave up no runs on four hits (all singles), struck out three batters, and walked four on 100 pitches (60 strikes) to pick up his first win of the season.

The only other hits by Nationals’ hitters this evening besides that fourth inning were a single by Wilson Ramos in the bottom of the second and a single by Murphy in the sixth. Wisler went six innings, gave up three runs on four hits, struck out four, and walked one on 74 pitches (48 strikes) in the loss.

After Roark, Oliver Perez came in to pitch the top of the eighth and had a 1-2-3 inning, including strikeouts of Nats’ killer Freddie Freeman and Adonis Garcia.

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Jonathan Papelbon came in to pitch the ninth and he was able to pick up his fifth save of the season. Even though he gave up a one out single to A.J. Pierzynski, Erick Aybar grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

Next Game: The Washington Nationals will look for the four game sweep tomorrow afternoon when they take on the Atlanta Braves (0-8) at 4:05 p.m. ET. You can catch the game on MASN. Juilo Teheran (0-1, 5.40 ERA) will get the start for the Braves. As for the Nats, it will likely either be Strasburg or Yusmeiro Petit that gets the start.

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