Braves vs. Nationals Game Highlights (5/20/25) | MLB Highlights

After a disappointing April setback, Spencer Strider is back. The brave strikeout king makes his highly anticipated return tonight in the nation's capital. Nationals trying to deliver a little payback after they dropped 3 of 4 at Truist Park just last week. Verdugo, Riley, and Ozuna the top three against Mitchell Parker. A man that the Braves just saw in Atlanta at Truist Park. He was okay, didn't get through five innings, gave up four runs overall. Sends a two hopper to the left side, Jose Tena ranging, and a strong throw for out number one. Nice scoop by Lowe on a low throw, with Tena ranging far to his left, reaching out that he did a full 360 and still got the throw in range for Lowe to scoop it out. Here's Austin Riley. Riley at 287, eight homers. Swinging a tip held by Quebert Ruiz. Went back to the curveball and has his first strikeout. And the Braves go down 1-2-3. So a good start for Parker. We head to the bottom of the first inning. No score into the bottom of the first inning. Spencer Strider walking up the back slope of the mound. He'll be facing Abrams, Wood, and Lowe here in the bottom of the first inning. Had to start in Toronto, tweaked his right hamstring, went on the IAL April 21st, and now here he is just under a month later on May 20th ready to go. Big hopper over the mound, darting to his left behind the mound, Riley, and is able to glove it and make the catch. Boy, he went a long way to get there. Now James Wood. You don't want to let him get comfortable. You don't want to let him get into a rhythm. If he's throwing his heater and knows he can get ahead, then it makes his other stuff that much better. So I think you've got to attack the fastball. Wood swinging 3-0 and he sends one past Riley, shaded into the 6-hole. James Wood. Another ball off his bat north of 100 miles an hour. What else is new? So Nathaniel Lowe, who's not had many hits of late, just four for his previous 42, delivers a single. And the Nationals have something going against Strider. First and third, one out for Quebert Ruiz. Checks in at 280 with a couple of homers. Four for 15 with a couple of doubles against Spencer Strider. Swing and a line drive, hooked to right, down the line. It's going to be a fair ball. Wood will score. Lowe's digging for third. Ruiz for second. White will throw it in toward the plate and it's cut off. So three hits in a row and the Nationals on the board, first lead at 1-0, as Ruiz delivers an RBI double. His 18th RBI of the year and the Nationals greeting Spencer Strider very rudely here in D.C. 1-0 Nationals. Here's Luis Garcia. It's a very lefty, heavy lineup for Dave Martinez tonight. In fact, there are only two right-handed hitters in there. Luis lines one out to right. For a base hit. Nats will go station to station and now have a 2-0 lead. Four straight hits for Nationals batters. Single by Woods, single by Lowe, double by Ruiz, single by Garcia. Only one out. Here's Josh Bell. Bell is off to the worst start of his career, 156. And the dirt gets by the catcher. Ruiz is coming in. He will score without a play. And it looked like Murphy and Strider might have gotten their signals crossed right there. Nationals with a crooked number here in the first inning tonight. Strider does get the strikeout, his first of the ballgame, and there are two down. And a very awkward swing from Josh Bell. 22 pitches for Spencer here in the bottom of the first inning. And now call the batter, right-handed hitter. Runner at second goes. Strider steps off and runs right at Garcia. Runs him at the second base bag and now he puts the tag on him. That should not happen. Garcia's picked off, caught stealing. One unassisted. Shades of LeBron Hernandez. Mitchell Parker in the Nationals leading the Braves 3-0 into the top of the second inning. Matt Olsen will lead off for Atlanta. And Matt coming off a big series at Fenway. Did a few home runs and leads it off on the top of the second. Matt Olsen straightaway center field. Well struck. Cruz at the wall. It is gone. And Matt Olsen blasts another one out of here. That is his tenth homer of the year. And the Braves on the board. It's a 3-1 game as he just hit one of the deepest part of the yard. One thing about Parker is he does not allow home runs. That is only the second home run that he has allowed this season. He's the only qualified starter in baseball to only have allowed one home run. Well that is no longer. Parker who gives up the long homer gives up a bloop double. Now faces Eli White. White has filled in very well. Although a much different kind of player than Ronald Acuna Jr. who's on his rehab assignment. Eli White gives it a ride out to left center field. At the wall. Off the top of the wall. Ozzie's going to come home. And Eli White with an RBI double. The Braves striking right back here in the second inning. Coming off the bat it looked like he might have had one. Just missed a homer to left center. And he went down to get that breaking ball. And the Braves have answered quickly to the Nats crooked number in the bottom of the first. And now it's Michael Harris to the plate with a chance to tie the game with a base hit right here. Runner at second one out. Harris out to left center. That's going to get down. It's going to be a fourth extra base hit here in the second for Atlanta. And it's going to tie the game at three. RBI number 27 for Michael Harris. A homer and three doubles against Mitchell Parker in this frame. Taina who doesn't strike out very often goes down looking. And two down in the inning. Here's the center fielder Dylan Cruz. Cruz had a big three run homer in Baltimore on Sunday. One of his two hits. He faces Strider for the first time. Swing and a fly ball left field. This one is deep. Way back it goes for Dugo to the wall. Looking up and it is gone. Nationals back in front four to three. Just on a 3-0 pitch, it's a soaring drive right down the left field line for his seventh home run of the season. Cruz has homered in back-to-back games. He turned it loose on 3-0 and hit it a ton. Abrams hit by a pitch for the fourth time this year. CJ, when he gets hit, he likes to run. Trying to turn that hit by pitch into a double. Here's James Wood. Pick off of the first base and he throws wild. Goes to the sidewalk. Abrams up on his feet. Heads for second. Makes a big turnaround second. Olsen gathers. Throws to third. Riley leaps and keeps it. Oh, now take it off for the plate. Now Abrams, and they got him in a rundown. Where was he going? They throw to the bag and they get him. Wow. The first inning ended with a bizarre running sequence. This one was even more bizarre to end the second. CJ thought the ball had been thrown away. But Riley caught and CJ's caught, hung up between third and home and will leave James Wood at the plate. Oh, my. One on, one out. Top of the order in CJ Abrams. First pitch swinging. Fly ball out towards left center field. Michael Harris comes along and he dives in at the grass. Trapped it out there. That'll be a base hit out of CJ Abrams. How about a three-pitch inning to three batters? Two on, one out. So the walk to Wood will load him up now for Nathaniel Lowe. Listen, it's not ideal. Obviously, bases loaded with just one out. However, mention how good Wood was and has been this year against left-handed pitching. It has not been the story so far here for Nathaniel Lowe. So this may be a better matchup. Swung on, line drive, left field. Moving over is the left fielder. He makes the catch for the out. Tana scores. And the Nationals have a two-run lead. The other runners hold. Abrams at second, Wood at first. The batter will be Caber Ruiz. And with the Braves now trailing by two runs and getting late in this game, he's got to lock in and find a way to get Ruiz. That swung on and popped up. Shallow left field. Nick Allen backpedaling, looking up into the D.C. night. Makes the catch in shallow left for out number three. But a big run across for the Nationals on the sack fly by Lowe. Nationals hoping to close out game one of the series and make it four wins in a row. And they'll turn to their closer, Kyle Finnegan. 14 saves this year, and he'll go for a 15th, which would tie him for the most in Major League Baseball this season. Here he is, a 5-3 lead facing Matt Olsen. It's hit in the air to left field. James Wood moving in. Now he settles. And he makes the catch. Lazy fly to left for out number one. Murphy, right-handed hitting catcher. Since that three-run second inning for the Braves, they have had just three hits, and all three have been singles. Busts his bat. Good angle. One hop out to C.J. who will take care of Murphy for the second out. And the Nationals now one out away from their fourth straight win. It's up to Ozzie Albies to keep the Braves alive here in the ninth. Swing, and it's poked on the ground to third. It's fielded by Taina. He sets, and he throws in time. And the ball game is over. Nationals win it 5-3. Win number four in a row. Save number 15 for Kyle Finnegan, tying him for the major league lead.