Riley homers twice, Braves win 14th straight, 8-2 over Nats

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Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

WASHINGTON ā€“ Austin Riley homered twice, rookie Spencer Strider allowed one hit over 5 2/3 innings, and the Atlanta Braves won their 14th straight game, 8-2 over the last-place Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

Orlando Arcia, starting at second base in place of the injured Ozzie Albies, had a homer, three singles and a walk for the Braves, who went deep 13 times while outscoring the Nationals 27-11 in sweeping the three-game series.

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ā€œEverything seems to be clicking right now for us, top to bottom,ā€ Strider said. "Unfortunately we got Ozzieā€™s injury, but Arcia stepped right in and looked like heā€™s been playing every day, so heā€™s picked up Ozzie big time and weā€™re in good shape right now.ā€

Since Albies left Monday's game with a broken left foot, Arcia is 7 for 9 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

The Braves matched their 14-game run from July 26-Aug. 9, 2013, and are one win away from tying the franchiseā€™s post-1900 record, a 15-game streak from April 16-May 2, 2000.

Surging Atlanta pulled within four games of the NL East-leading Mets, who lost to Milwaukee.

Riley, who also had a single, hit two-run blasts in the seventh and eighth innings, giving him 18 homers this year. He went 0 for 7 in the first two games at Washington.

ā€œI told him, ā€˜Itā€™s like, man, you got angry there all of a sudden,ā€™ā€ Braves manager Brian Snitker said. ā€œWe just know what heā€™s capable of. Heā€™s learned to hang with himself and take each at-bat as a separate entity and he does a great job of that.ā€

Strider (3-2) didnā€™t allow a hit until Luis Garcia homered to right-center with two outs in the fifth. The right-hander was lifted with two outs in the sixth and a runner on first, who later scored.

Making his 15th appearance of the season and fourth start, Strider gave up two runs on one hit with a career-high 11 strikeouts and two walks on 106 pitches. He would have been happy to sacrifice strikeouts for innings.

ā€œThought I had everything I needed to go deep in the game," he said. ā€œ(But) a lot of two-strike counts and struggled to put some guys away. Where I needed to conserve pitches I wasnā€™t able to.ā€

Washington starter Erick Fedde (4-5) went 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits.

With the Braves leading 1-0 in the fourth, Michael Harris II extended his hitting streak to eight games with a two-run single.

After the Nationals pulled within 3-2 in the sixth, Dansby Swanson walked to open the seventh and Riley followed with his first homer of the game to make it 5-2.

MISSING THE PARTY

The Braves dominated the series despite leadoff hitter Ronald AcuƱa Jr. going 1 for 15 and cleanup hitter Matt Olson finishing 3 for 15.

GARCIA GOING GREAT

The Nationals shortstop extended his hitting streak to six games with the homer. Over that span he is batting .417 (10-for-24) with three RBIs and three runs scored.

TRAINERā€™S ROOM

Braves: Albies had surgery to stabilize the fracture in his left foot. ... Snitker said RHP Collin McHugh, placed on the COVID-19 injured list on June 7, will rejoin the team this weekend in Chicago.

Nationals: RF Juan Soto missed his second game after banging his right knee against the dugout bench Monday night. ... SS Alcides Escobar (right hamstring strain) went 1 for 3 with a homer in his first rehab game with Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Braves: RHP Charlie Morton (4-3, 5.67 ERA) pitches the opener of a three-game series against the Cubs in Chicago. Morton is 4-6 with a 5.44 ERA in 16 career starts against the Cubs.

Nationals: LHP Patrick Corbin (3-8, 6.65 ERA) opposes visiting Philadelphia on Thursday. Corbin, seeking his third straight win, is 3-3 with a 4.05 ERA in 10 starts versus the Phillies since joining Washington in 2019.

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