Ronald Acuña Jr. gave the Braves exactly the jolt they needed Thursday night.
Atlanta came into the bottom of the fourth already digging out of a hole. The Nationals had built a 3-0 lead, Grant Holmes had surrendered three solo homers, and Jake Irvin had no-hit the Braves through three innings. For a lineup that had managed just 11 runs over its previous 47 innings, it looked like another rough night was taking shape at Truist Park.
Then Acuña stepped in and changed the feel of the game.
Back in the lineup on July 27 after missing 37 games with a left hamstring strain, Acuña snapped Irvin’s no-hit bid with a solo homer in the fourth. It was his first home run since May 31, his first at Truist Park since April 24, and his eighth of the season. More importantly for Atlanta, it started a stretch of five straight runs that ended with a 5-4 comeback win over Washington.
The Braves kept pressing in the fifth when Mike Yastrzemski launched a two-run homer to pull the game even at 3. Then Ozzie Albies delivered the big swing in the sixth, lining a two-run single that put Atlanta ahead for good at 5-3.
Irvin was charged with five earned runs on three hits over five-plus innings.
Holmes, meanwhile, gave up three runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. It was the first time since June 22 that he failed to get through at least five innings in a start.
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