Washington, DC (My Sportsbook) - Adam Dunn hit his 300th career home run and drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single during a four-run eighth, as Washington topped Atlanta, 5-3, halting the Braves' season-high win streak at five games.
John Lannan (6-5) was sharp in posting his fourth straight victory. The lefty tossed eight innings and yielded three runs on nine hits and a walk. Mike MacDougal earned his fourth save of the year with a scoreless ninth.
Ryan Zimmerman had a two-run single and Josh Willingham added an RBI single in the pivotal eighth frame. The Nationals snapped a four-game slide and won for just the second time in eight games.
Tommy Hanson, searching for a fifth straight victory, was superb on the hill for Atlanta. The rookie right-hander limited the Nats to a single run and three hits, walking one and fanning five in seven innings.
"A ton of first-pitch strikes...with a really tight zone again. You had to get it right over the plate. He pitched great," said Braves skipper Bobby Cox of Hanson.
However, the Braves bullpen wasted the effort and was tagged for four runs on four hits and two walks in the eighth. Nate McLouth, Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson knocked in the runs for Atlanta.
The visitors took a 3-1 lead into the eighth but Mike Gonzalez (3-1) proceeded to load the bases with one out, walking two and giving up a single. Peter Moylan entered from the pen to allow Zimmerman's game-tying two-run single to center.
Eric O'Flaherty came on in relief and immediately gave up the lead with RBI singles by Dunn and Willingham allowing for a 5-3 Washington lead. O'Flaherty struck out the next two batters to hold the deficit at two but the Nationals' bullpen held firm as MacDougal worked around a pair of walks in the ninth to nail down the win.
The Braves got on the board in the third when Brooks Conrad led off with a base hit, moved up a bag on Hanson's sacrifice and raced home on McLouth's single to center.
Atlanta padded its lead by two in the sixth. McLouth walked and Martin Prado put runners at second and third with a double to left. Jones and Anderson hit back-to-back run-scoring singles to center for a 3-0 margin.
Hanson, meanwhile, retired 18 of the first 20 batters he faced and did not allow a runner past first base until Dunn smoked a leadoff home run out to right in the seventh. Hanson set down the next three, though, before giving way to Gonzalez in the eighth.
"It's an incredible number," Dunn said of possibly reaching 500 home runs after becoming the fifth fastest to reach 300 in MLB history. "There's a lot of things that have to go right -- you have to stay healthy, you have to very productive for a long time."
Game Notes
Atlanta has won five of its eight matchups with the Nats this season after Washington took 12 of the 18 meetings a year ago...Since allowing six runs in his major league-debut on June 7, Hanson has surrendered just three earned runs 30 innings. His recent accolades earned him National League Rookie of the Month honors for June...It was also Dunn's 22nd home run of the season. Only Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Ralph Kiner and Harmon Killebrew reached the 300 home run mark faster than Dunn...McLouth and Anderson had two hits apiece in defeat...Atlanta ended 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
