Brandon Beachy went to the mound today with the weight of the Braves on his shoulders.  Atlanta came into game three versus the Nationals on a three game losing streak and in danger of being swept.  Beachy looked up to the challenge early on, and the offense did not waste base runners.

Michael Bourn got his first stolen base with the Braves and his 40th of the season, and he eventually scored with rarely seen sacrifices by Atlanta batters.  Even more impressive than the early two runs, was the four run fifth inning.  Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman both continued their hitting streaks to 25 and 18 games.  Freeman singled to score Bourn, while Uggla hit a three run homer scoring Freeman and Prado.  A slumping Alex Gonzalez has quitely started a five game streak of his own.  The Braves needed the big inning because they would not threaten again in the game.  It is worth noting that Jason Heyward is healthy, but but was benched for the second straight day as, Eric Hinske and Jose Constanza joined Bourn in the outfield.

Beachy domination was short lived as he gave up four runs in the sixth ending a stint of 17 scoreless innings for him.  Beachy followed two wild pitches by giving up a home run to Werth.  Atlanta’s bullpen once again stepped big with O’Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrel all having shutdown performances.  Kimbrel earned save 32 in the 6-4 Beachy win.

Atlanta is off tomorrow, and return to action Friday in New York against the Mets.  Chipper Jones hopes to return to the lineup in his second favorite place to play.  If history is any indication of Chipper’s play, the Mets better pray for a setback.  In other injury updates, Brian McCann reported to Braves announcer Jim Powell that he felt great and would return as soon as he is eligible to.  Peter Moylan was slated to throw a bullpen session, but the weather appears to have prevented him from doing so.