Nationals Snap Losing Streak Against the Braves, Lynn Wins Again for the Cardinals
The Atlanta Braves (17-11) still sit atop the East Division but on Wednesday, they dropped to their rival, the Washington Nationals (14-14), 2-0.
Righty Jordan Zimmermann (5-1) dominated the game with his two hits in eight innings. Only one runner got beyond first base against him and that was ironically Braves pitchers Paul Maholm.
Nationals righty Jordan Zimmermann
But his game was nearly as good as Zimmermann’s. Maholm (3-3) only gave up three hits over eight innings, taking out his last 13 batters before exiting the game.
The sole scoring for the Nationals came in the fourth inning with Ian Desmond’s two-run homer. This was good enough to get the first win for the team against the Braves, who had won five straight games this season against them. Factoring in last season, they had won nine consecutive games.
The Nationals also ended a three-game losing streak and now sit at .500. They are 2.5 games behind the Braves.
As good as a game it was for the Nationals, their outfielder Bryce Harper exited the game in the middle of the sixth inning. He tweaked his left side on a swing. This followed Tuesday’s incident where he bruised the side after trying to catch a ball and slamming into a wall.
Harper finished his at-bat on Wednesday but after grounding out he went to the clubhouse; the game came to an end for him. He has been listed as day-to-day. He’ll likely join teammates Jayson Werth(ankle) and Ryan Zimmerman (hamstring) on the bench for the Thursday night game against the Braves to wrap up this four-game series.
Braves righty Kris Medlen (1-3) will take the mound for this last game while righty Dan Haren (2-3) takes on pitching duty for the Nationals.
The last win goes to the Braves (-161, 7.5 o/u).
While Zimmermann had a great game against the Braves, down in St. Louis, the Cardinals (16-11) saw another big game by Lance Lynn.
Righty Lynn (5-0) won his 10th consecutive decision. He only allowed one run and five hits over seven innings along with five strikeouts and two walks.
This led the Cardinals to a 4-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds (15-14).
Cardinals righty Lance Lynn
Lynn is now 10-0 over 10 starts with one relief appearance since his last loss against the Milwaukee Brewers back on Sept. 7. He is the  NL’s first five-game winning pitcher.
Last season he also got off to a good start, going 6-0 (1.48 ERA) to May 7 but then 12-7 (4.46 ERA) for the remainder of the season.
Lynn said via ESPN, “To be able to pitch like this and win games, it feels good. I just go out there, concentrate and keep trying to improve every day.”
Other game highlights included Carlos Beltran hitting a team-high No.7 homer for St. Louis while Matt Carpenter grabbed three hits, including a sixth inning go-ahead single.
For the Cardinals, they have now won their last six of nine games and for a sixth consecutive year, sit atop the NL Central at the beginning of May.
As for the Reds, righty Homer Bailey (1-3) allowed four runs with nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. He doesn’t play well against St. Louis with his 3-9 record, especially as a visiting pitcher (0-5, 6.90 ERA).
One bright spot was Brandon Phillips. He drove in the Reds’ two runs; he also hit a solo homer in the ninth inning.
This game ended the series and for the Reds, they’ll get a much-needed day off  after playing 20 straight games. On Friday, they’ll open a a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley. Look for righty Mike Leake (1-1) to take the mound against Cubs’ righty Carlos Villanueva (1-1) in the series’ opener.
The Cardinals will resume play on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers (14-12) for a four-game series in Milwaukee (-104, 8.5 o/u). Righty Jake Westbrook (1-1) will take the mound against the Brewers righty Wily Peralta (2-1).
