The Nats bullpen surrendered a late 6-1 lead. Bryce Harper went deep again to take care of the pen’s problems. Harper hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, his sixth home run in the past three games, to lift Washington to an 8-6 win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.
The Braves trailed 6-1 in the seventh, but cut into the lead on a two-out, two-run double by Pedro Ciriaco, then tied the game with a three-spot in the eighth, the big blow being another two-out, two-run double, this one from Christian Bethancourt.
Tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the ninth, Yunel Escobar led the inning off with a single. Jayson Werth struck out for out number one, bringing up Harper, who homered on a 1-0 pitch, driving the ball 15 rows back in right-center.
Jose Lobaton and Ryan Zimmerman also homered for Washington, which won for the ninth time in 11 games.
Drew Storen (1-0) picked up the win with an inning of scoreless relief in the top of the ninth in advance of the Harper homer.
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