- Associated Press - Sunday, September 24, 2023

Spencer Strider earned his major league-leading 19th win and the Atlanta Braves got their 100th victory of the season Sunday night by defeating the Washington Nationals 8-5 for a doubleheader split.

Kevin Pillar and Forrest Wall homered, and Orlando Arcia drove in three runs for Atlanta (100-56), which has won 100 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2002-03.

Luis García and Lane Thomas homered for last-place Washington, which dropped three of four in the series and has lost nine of 13 overall.

In the opener, rookie Jackson Rutledge earned his first major league victory as the Nationals won 3-2.

Strider (19-5) pitched 5 2/3 innings and yielded four runs on seven hits, including García’s solo shot in the sixth. The right-hander struck out four to give him 274 for the year, two shy of John Smoltz’s 1996 single-season modern franchise record.

Washington scored three runs in the third inning off Strider when Keibert Ruiz hit a two-run double and scored on García’s single two batters later.

Atlanta quickly erased the deficit. Matt Olson and Arcia hit RBI doubles in the fourth against Nationals starter Joan Adon (2-4), with Arcia coming around on Pillar’s drive to left.

Adon gave up four runs and struck out five in 4 2/3 innings.

Wall’s two-run shot to right off Jose A. Ferrer in the sixth made it 6-3. It was his first big league home run. Arcia added a two-run single in the seventh.

Thomas lifted his 27th home run of the season to left off Raisel Iglesias in the ninth.

In the first game, Rutledge allowed a run over five innings in his third career start while combining with three relievers on a six-hitter. Jacob Young drove in two for Washington.

Sean Murphy hit a broken-bat home run in the ninth for Atlanta. Kyle Wright, who led the majors with 21 wins last season but has been limited to seven starts this year because of shoulder issues, allowed a run over three innings in his first relief appearance since 2019.

The second game was a makeup of Saturday’s rainout.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Braves: Placed RHP Charlie Morton on the 15-day injured list. Morton left his start Friday after one inning with right index finger inflammation. “It’s just going to be one of those things where he’s going to miss the Division Series and hopefully we can advance and have him ready for the LCS,” manager Brian Snitker said.

THOMAS JOINS 20-20 CLUB

Thomas stole his 20th base in the third inning of the second game, becoming the fourth Nationals player to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in a season since the club moved to Washington in 2005 — and the first since Bryce Harper in 2016. Ian Desmond (three times) and Alfonso Soriano also did it.

TAKING ATTENDANCE

Washington’s attendance for the season was 1,865,832, down 7.9% from last year’s total of 2,026,401. It is the lowest season attendance for the Nationals in a year without pandemic restrictions since the club drew 1,828,066 in 2010.

UP NEXT

Braves: After Monday’s off day, RHP Bryce Elder (12-4, 3.63 ERA) starts Tuesday as Atlanta returns home to start a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs.

Nationals: Washington is also off Monday. The Nationals had not announced pitching plans for Tuesday’s opener of a two-game series at Baltimore.

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