Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Gio Gonzalez And Bryce Harper Help Lead Nats To 4th Straight Win

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Last night, the Washington Nationals continued their recent offensive surge by blowing out the Atlanta Braves, 8-2. Through three games in this series, the Nats have outscored Atlanta 28-5. Yes, the Nats are only five games above .500, but they are finally beating up on the teams they should beat, such as the Braves, who have now dropped 11 games in a row.

While the Braves are a bad team, Washington did have some tough times against Shelby Miller coming into last night’s game (five earned runs in two starts). The Nats were able to score six runs in four innings to give Gio Gonzalez a good-sized lead to work with. Miller is now 0-13 in his last 20 starts in his first season with Atlanta.

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As for Gonzalez, he had his rough patches in last night’s game, but he was able to get out of a key jam in the first inning, which helped him settle in to his outing. The Nats’ left-hander had ten strikeouts last night, which was the most Gonzalez has had this season and his highest strikeout total since September 25 of last season against the Mets.

Even though the Mets got the win last night against the Marlins behind a complete game shutout by Bartolo Colon, the Nationals remain five games back with one game left before the two teams begin a three game series on Monday afternoon.

Before the Nats go for the sweep this afternoon against the Braves (1:35 PM ET, MASN), check out my takeaways from last night’s win, which includes Bryce Harper (3-for-4, home run, two RBI’s) great performance:

Next: Gonzalez Shuts Out Braves