A two-out, two-run Victor Robles homer forced a bottom of the ninth, but Josh Donaldson walked off the Nats with a bases-loaded single to lift Atlanta to a 4-3 win Friday night.
Washington reliever Fernando Rodney (0-1, 7.48 ERA) had pitched a perfect eighth ahead of the Robles game-tying bomb, but then couldn’t record an out in the ninth, walking Robert Acuna Jr, giving up an 0-2 single to Dansby Swanson, then walking Freddie Freeman on four pitches ahead of the long single by Donaldson on a 2-0 pitch.
Patrick Corbin only lasted five innings for the Nats, needing 100 pitches on a hot night, giving up two runs on eight hits, striking out five and walking two.
The loss evens the series at a game apiece, and leaves the Braves six and a half games ahead of Washington in the NL East.