ATLANTA — Dan Uggla drove in five runs, three on a home run in the ninth inning, to help the Washington Nationals rally from the franchise’s biggest deficit to beat the Atlanta Braves, 13-12, on Tuesday night and snap a seven-game losing streak.
The Nationals twice trailed by eight runs, but chipped away at the lead as Jose Lobaton hit a three-run home run in a four-run fifth inning. Denard Span hit a solo home run in the sixth and Uggla had a two-run triple and Reed Johnson a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh.
Washington’s previous biggest comeback was on June 17, 2006, when it trailed the New York Yankees by seven runs.
It marked the first time the Nationals have won a game in which they allowed 11 runs.
Uggla, released last year by the Braves and still owed over $18 million at the time, was booed in every at-bat, but he quieted the crowd with his first homer for Washington, a blast into the seats in left field off closer Jason Grilli (0-1).
A.J. Pierzynski went 4-for-4 with four RBI, and Freddie Freeman went 4-for-6 for the Braves.
Grilli allowed three hits, three runs, one walk and struck out two.
Blake Treinen (1-2) gave up two hits, one run, three walks and struck out one to earn the victory. Drew Storen earned his fifth save after facing four batters in the ninth.
The teams combined for 32 hits.
Pierzynski, who put Atlanta up, 10-2, in the fourth and 11-7 in the sixth with RBI singles, gave the Braves a 12-10 lead in the seventh with another RBI single.
The 38-year-old Pierzynski, signed as a backup catcher in January, has a .475 average and 14 RBI in 40 career at-bats against Washington.
Atlanta starter Julio Teheran allowed 10 hits and seven runs — three earned — and struck out four. He has given up 12 earned runs in his last three starts, a span of 15 innings, to raise his ERA over three runs to 4.64.
Nationals starter A.J. Cole, recalled from Triple-A Syracuse earlier in the day, gave up nine hits, one walk and nine runs — four earned — in his first career start. The right-hander struck out one in what could be his only turn in the rotation as ace Max Scherzer recovers from a sprained right thumb.
Scherzer, who missed his first start since signing a $210 million contract with Washington, threw a bullpen session before the game and said he hopes to make his next start this week.
Atlanta made it 8-1 with a seven-run second. Simmons had a two-run single, Cole made a two-run fielding error while trying to cover first on Alberto Callaspo’s grounder, Kelly Johnson had a two-run double and Jace Peterson an RBI single.
The error by Cole was Nationals’ 23rd, most in the majors.
Jayson Werth had two sacrifice flies for the Nationals.
Manager Matt Williams said third baseman Yunel Escobar’s left hand is “scraped up pretty good” after Andrelton Simmons’ hard slide into third the night before. Williams added that Escobar could have played Tuesday “if he had to,” but said he still hasn’t tried to grip a bat.
Williams also said third baseman Anthony Rendon, on the disabled list with a sprained left knee ligament, felt tightness in his side when he reported for Tuesday’s rehab game at Double-A Harrisburg and didn’t play. Rendon was pulled from Monday’s lineup because of fatigue.
Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann (1-2) will try to win for the first time in four starts on Wednesday. Zimmermann is 4-2 with a 2.93 ERA in 10 career starts against Atlanta.
He’ll face left-hander Alex Wood (1-0), who is 3-1 with a 1.49 ERA in six career starts against Washington.
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