Wisler, Braves wait out rain, down Nationals

[July 02, 2015]  ATLANTA -- A rain delay of two hours and nine minutes may have worked in Atlanta's favor, with rookie starter Matt Wisler seemingly unfazed and the Braves' offense finally getting untracked.

Wisler allowed one hit through 5 1/3 scoreless innings, and catcher A.J. Pierzynski and third baseman Juan Uribe hit consecutive home runs as the Braves snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Washington Nationals with a 4-1 victory Wednesday night.

"The delay wasn't bad," said Wisler, who bounced back from a tough start at Washington last week. "We just hung around the clubhouse and stayed loose. I've done it before."

Wisler (2-1) walked five, but the 22-year-old right-hander struck out six and gave up just an infield single by second baseman Danny Espinosa before leaving after 84 pitches.

"He did a nice job," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It's not easy facing the same team."

Wisler also drove in a run with his first major league hit to cap Atlanta's four-run, fourth-inning rally.

The homers by Pierzynski and Uribe came against veteran right-hander Doug Fister, who blanked the Braves on four hits over seven innings June 25 at Washington while matched up against Wisler.
 

"It's been a while since we put a crooked number up, and we did it against a good pitcher," Gonzalez said.

The Braves (37-41) lost six of their previous seven games while scoring just 10 runs.

The defeat was just the second in 11 games for the division-leading Nationals (43-35). They remain 3 1/2 games ahead of the second-place New York Mets in the National League East.

Fister (3-4) surrendered four of the seven hits against him in the fourth. Overall, he struck out four and walked two, one intentionally, while throwing 98 pitches over six innings.

"I'm fighting myself a little bit," Fister said. "I didn't get my job done. I didn't keep my team in the game, and that hurts."

Braves reliever Nick Masset gave up a run in the seventh inning on a two-out single by center fielder Denard Span, but Jim Johnson pitched a perfect eighth and Jason Grilli did the same in the ninth for his 22nd save in 24 chances.

The rain began falling shortly before the Nationals were scheduled to begin batting practice and continued until just before the long-delayed first pitch was thrown at 9:19 p.m. EDT.

The Braves had gone four games without scoring against a Nationals starter, and Fister limited them to a walk in the first three innings. Things dramatically changed when Atlanta sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth.

Center fielder Cameron Maybin beat out an infield hit leading off before Pierzynski and Uribe went deep consecutively one out later.

Pierzynski's fifth homer of the season came on a 3-2 cutter, and Uribe ambushed a 3-0 two-seamer from Fister, depositing his sixth home run of the year over the center -field fence.

"Pierzynski was pretty much sitting on the pitch, and he got it," Fister said. "With Uribe, I was trying to fight back after falling behind, and he won the challenge. I've got to tip my hat to both those guys."

The last run of the inning was driven in by Wisler with a two-out single after an intentional walk.

It was on the mound, though, where Wisler showed his ability to bounce back. He gave up six runs (four earned) in four innings at Washington.

"I was able to keep the ball down in the zone," he said. "Last week I didn't."

Span said, "You know what, he was effectively wild. We had some walks, had some guys on, but we just couldn't capitalize."

NOTES: The Braves called up LHP Manny Banuelos, 6-2 with a 2.29 ERA for Triple-A Gwinnett, to make his major league debut against Nationals ace RHP Max Scherzer (9-5, 1.79 ERA) in the series finale Thursday night. ... RHP Ryan Kelly, who made his debut Tuesday with an inning in relief, was sent back to Gwinnett to make room for Banuelos. ... The Braves have already used 46 players this season, with 10 appearing in the majors for the first time. The franchise record is 50 players, set in 2007. ... Nationals 1B Ryan Zimmerman (plantar fasciitis in left foot) had a full baseball workout Tuesday at Class A Potomac but eased back his running Wednesday after feeling some discomfort, according to Washington manager Matt Williams. ... Nationals RHP Aaron Barrett (right biceps strain) began a rehab assignment with a scoreless inning for Potomac on Wednesday.

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