ATLANTA -- In yet another low-scoring affair, AJ Smith-Shawver cruised through six innings with one unearned run allowed, as the Braves defeated the Nationals, 5-2, Thursday afternoon at Truist Park, winning the four-game series and returning to a .500 record at 22-22.
“For me, it’s really been just trusting my stuff, attacking the zone and trying to get the batter out in three pitches or less,” Smith-Shawver said of his sustained success. “I was talking to [catcher James] McCann when we were down in [Triple-A] Gwinnett, and he’s just [saying], ‘Try to get the guy out in three pitches.’”
Smith-Shawver struck out six and allowed two hits and two walks. He lowered his season ERA to 2.33, and he has an 0.46 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 19 2/3 innings in three starts in May.
“That’s pretty impressive right there, just how he came out of the chute firing, boy,” manager Brian Snitker said. “The overall pitch mix might have been better than the [game vs. the Reds on May 5, when he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning]: life on the fastball, his curveball was playing today, threw some good splits.
“I was worried how he started out -- I was like, ‘Oh my God, [are] you gonna have enough?’ And then he kind of got his second wind to start playing catch again, but then the velocity stayed in such a live fastball. The secondary stuff’s starting to get better too.”
In the bottom of the third, Eli White scampered home from second on Nick Allen’s hard grounder that bounced past shortstop CJ Abrams’ glove into center field. White had reached first on third baseman Jose Teña’s throwing error before stealing second, making the run unearned for Washington starter Trevor Williams.
The Braves chased Williams with a one-out rally in the bottom of the fifth. Ozzie Albies moved to third on Allen’s single to right field after reaching on a hit-by-pitch. He then scored on Alex Verdugo’s single to right, which moved Allen to third. Drake Baldwin’s line-drive single to center field allowed Allen to score and Verdugo to advance to third. And Marcell Ozuna’s sacrifice fly against relief pitcher Brad Lord scored Verdugo, extending Atlanta’s lead to 4-0.
“That’s the cool thing about this, when you can develop guys and they come up,” Snitker said of rookies Smith-Shawver and Baldwin, who went 3-for-4 with that RBI single. “You’re proud of those guys when they can handle themselves like this, and they’re both handling it great.”
Washington (18-27) responded in the top of the sixth, scoring an unearned run with two outs on Keibert Ruiz’s grounder through third baseman Austin Riley’s legs. Abrams dashed home from second, having singled on a liner to left field to start the inning and stolen second on a close play that was called an out but was then overturned upon review. The Nationals’ only other threat against Smith-Shawver was a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, which ended with Jacob Young grounding to Allen for a 6-4-3 double play.
“You hate being in those situations, but it’s nice to just trust your stuff, know you’re moving and what you need to do to get out of it,” Smith-Shawver said. “You’re always a pitch away.”
Abrams also launched a solo homer into the right-field stands off Dylan Lee to lead off the top of the eighth. Amed Rosario drove a sharp single to left field, but Lee bailed himself out, starting a 1-6-3 double play on a comebacker from James Wood. Ruiz doubled into the left-field corner, but Nathaniel Lowe bounced out to first baseman Matt Olson to end the Nationals’ late push.
The Braves tacked on an insurance run in the eighth, starting with Riley’s double to the warning track in left-center field. He advanced on Michael Harris II’s groundout to second, then scored on White’s full-count two-out single that dribbled just past second baseman Rosario’s outstretched glove into right field.
Pierce Johnson and Raisel Iglesias each tossed one scoreless inning to help secure the victory for the Braves.