Jun 13, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman (11) celebrates with Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy (20) after hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. Photo Credit: Patrick McDermott-USA TODAY Sports
WASHINGTON — Ryan Zimmerman, who missed the previous three games with a bad back, was 3-for-4, including two homers, and drove in four runs as the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 10-5 on Tuesday, snapping a four-game losing streak.
Zimmerman hit a two-run homer off starter R.A. Dickey during a five-run sixth inning to give the Nationals a 6-5 lead. His homer came after Bryce Harper had an RBI single to pull Washington to within 5-4.
The second homer by Zimmerman was his 19th of the year and tied Vladamir Guerrero on the all-time franchise (Montreal/Washington) list with 234 career homers.
Later in the sixth, Matt Wieters had a two-run double to score Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon, who scored just steps back of Murphy as the Nationals led 8-5. Murphy had his third hit, an RBI double in the seventh, to make it 9-5 and Trea Turner drove in a run with a single in the eighth for a 10-5 lead.
Rio Ruiz had given the Braves a 4-3 lead with a two-run homer to right in the sixth. It was the second career homer for Ruiz, who went deep against Max Scherzer of the Nationals on May 20 for his first MLB homer.
Washington starter Joe Ross threw a season-high 102 pitches and gave up nine hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings. The winning pitcher was Trevor Gott (1-0), who retired one batter in the sixth. Enny Romero pitched two scoreless innings for the Nationals.
Dickey (4-5) allowed eight runs and eight hits (three homers) with six strikeouts in five innings plus five batters. Ryan Raburn and Michael A. Taylor had two hits for the Nationals. Dansby Swanson was 3-for-3 with a walk for the Braves, Brandon Phillips had three hits and Ender Inciarte and Matt Adams each had two for Atlanta.
Dickey had trouble keeping his knuckleball in the park early on.
The Nationals scored three runs in the first, as Bryce Harper drove in a run on a groundout and Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy hit back-to-back homers.
It was 18th homer of the year for Zimmerman, who had missed the previous three games with a sore back. Zimmerman hit 15 homers all of last year and 16 in 2015. Murphy went deep for the 11th time this season.
Atlanta’s Dansby Swanson had a two-run double in the top of fourth to trim the lead to 3-2. The drive to right-center scored Adams, who had singled, and Rio Ruiz, who reached on a walk with one out.
Swanson entered the game hitting .333 this month after batting .156 in April and .216 in May.
NOTES: Braves RHP Julio Teheran (5-4, 5.08) will face Washington RHP Tanner Roark (6-3, 3.87) in the series finale Wednesday, though rain is in the forecast. … Washington manager Dusty Baker was drafted in the 26th round by the Braves in 1967 and played eight years with Atlanta. … Braves C Kurt Suzuki (2012-13) and LHP Ian Krol (2013) are former Nationals. Krol had retired 18 batters in a row over seven games before 1B Ryan Zimmerman singled in the seventh. … Washington is the only National League team that has not been shut out this year.
