Medlen Dominates Nationals As Braves Salvage Series Finale 5-1

In a game that some were terming "must-win", Kris Medlen was every bit as dominant as he was in his last outing - a complete game shut out. Medlen dominated the Nats for 7 stellar innings, allowing only 7 hits and a walk while striking out 7. Medlen held the Nats completely in check throughout the afternoon, swapping zeroes until Atlanta was able to put runs on the board.

The game was a pitchers duel through 4, with Ross Detwiler blanking the Braves early on. The Braves broke through in the 5th, thanks to Martin Prado. David Ross led off the inning with a single, but the Braves made two quick outs to bring up Medlen. Meds worked a 4 pitch walk, bringing up Martin Prado (who was hitting leadoff to spell Bourn for the evening). Prado ran the count to 2-2 before ripping a 2-out double to center, making it 2-0 Braves.

Medlen held the lead at 2-0 through 7 innings, when he was pulled after 103 pitches. Eric O'Flaherty entered in the 8th and gave up a hustle double to Bryce Harper. Harper scored on a single from Michael Morse, and O'Flaherty seemed to be in trouble with Ian Desmond up with 2 on and 1 out. But Desmond grounded into a double play on the first pitch he saw, and the Braves were out of the innings.

Atlanta added 3 insurance runs in the top of the 9th inning on RBIs from David Ross and Michael Bourn. Craig Kimbrel worked the 9th inning (albeit in a non-save situation) and struck out the side, in true Kimbrel fashion.

Atlanta travels to San Francisco for a 4 game series against the NL West leading Giants, starting tomorrow.