Ian Desmond comes up clutch as Nationals walk off against Braves, 2-1

The season has been a grind for Ian Desmond, but Wednesday brought a much-needed moment of celebration.

With the bases loaded and one out in the 11th inning, Desmond crushed a fly ball to left field, allowing the decisive run to jog home. Desmond’s sacrifice fly led the Washington Nationals to a 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

THE RUNDOWN: Tuesday night’s game was delayed by rain and moved at a snail’s pace. Wednesday’s game was the opposite — at least for a while. With Miller and Zimmermann trading zeroes and limiting hits, the seventh-inning stretch arrived less than 90 minutes after first pitch. The Nationals broke the tie soon thereafter. Denard Span drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a single by Anthony Rendon and moved to third on a groundout by Yunel Escobar. Harper then did what he has done so often this season and brought a runner in scoring position home. His bloop hit fell just beyond a diving Jace Peterson, and Span jogged to the plate. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Braves came back to tie the game in the ninth against Drew Storen.

THE HIGHLIGHT: So many of Span’s highlights are forgotten because he makes them look routine. There was another play of that ilk Wednesday. With two outs in the fifth, Peterson hit a diving fly ball to shallow center field. Span, who rarely lays out for a ball, slid instead, comfortably making the catch as he went. Well, he made it look comfortable anyways. That’s what made it so impressive. Another highlight-reel grab followed in the eighth.

STAR OF THE GAME: Zimmermann continued a recent trend established by Nationals starters over the past week, turning in a spectacular scoreless outing. He held the Braves to only six hits over eight innings, allowing no runs and no walks. He retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced. Those eight scoreless innings continued a streak that dates back to the third inning of Friday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, pushing Washington’s scoreless-innings-by-starters streak to 34. That’s the longest such streak in the majors since 2013, when the St. Louis Cardinals rotation also went 34 innings without allowing a run.

THE TAKEAWAY: Miller was on point Wednesday night, but the Nationals’ lineup also was just not very good. That would have been the takeaway from this game had Zimmermann not done what so many starters before him have done and turned in a scoreless outing. Starting pitching was always going to be Washington’s strength, but this game showed how a star-studded rotation can mask its other ills.

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