Atlanta Braves Take Series From Nationals in a Downpour

The Home Stretch

Shae Simmons entered to pitch the seventh for the Braves and Jace Peterson helped him by making a superb play on Revere for the first out,

Simmons was apparently unwilling to stay out on the field as the rains started to fall so he struck out Espinoza on three pitches. Difo had other plans however singling to left with one out. Zimmerman’s first at bat should have ended after three pitches when Simmons 0-2 fastball sliced the inner half thigh high but was called a ball.

Three pitches later Zimmerman hit a ground ball to Garcia who went to second for an apparent force of Difo. For some reason the Nationals decided to prolong the agony by challenging the call. So while their players stood in the rain the umpires woke up the replay folks in New York who correctly upheld the call ending the inning,

Trevor Gott came onto pitch the home half in a constant, heavy rain and Flowers greeted him with a double into the stream that was once the warning track in right field. Flowers and Swanson struck out and Rio Ruiz appeared for his first major league at bat.