Flores Kills Atlanta Again As Nationals Defeats Punchless Braves 4-1

Another day, another frustrating loss for the Braves. Every year, the Braves seem to be killed by one below-average player for an NL East team. This year, Jesus Flores earns those honors. Flores hit a 3 run shot off Paul Maholm that would prove the difference in Washington's 4-1. Flores has hit 4 home runs this year, and 3 of them have come against Atlanta. 2 of those 3 were the difference in Nationals' wins.

Washington struck first in the second, when Ian Desmond gave a Paul Maholm pitch a ride into the left field bleachers for a 1-0 Washington lead. The score would remain 4-0 until the 5th, when Flores rode a 1-0 pitch out to left as well. That made it 4-0 Washington and would prove too large a lead for Atlanta to overcome.

The Braves were completely shut down by Stephen Strasburg, who whiffed 10 Braves in 6 innings while allowing only 4 hits. The lone run he allowed came in the 6th inning, when Martin Prado doubled, advanced to 3rd on a Jason Heyward single, and scored on a Freddie Freeman sacrifice fly. Other than that Strasburg was completely dominant.

The Braves only other chance came in the 9th, when a single and an error put runners on the corners with nobody out. Dan Uggla fouled out on a 1-2 count, Brian McCann popped out on the first pitch, and Juan Francisco flew out on the first pitch to end the game. The most promising scoring chance the Braves had all night was erased in 3 pitches.

Paul Maholm pitched a solid game, allowing only the 4 runs over 7 innings of work. He walked 1 and struck out 6 throwing exactly 100 pitches to do so.

The Braves will try to salvage the last game of the series tomorrow, as Kris Medlen takes on Ross Detwiler. First pitch is at 7:05 PM EST