Braves pad division lead with extra-innings win

WASHINGTON -- Josh Donaldson formed significant respect for then Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos when the two joined forces in 2015 and helped Toronto reach the postseason for the first time in more than a decade. After reuniting this past winter in Atlanta, the duo may again be a part of something special.

“I know Alex’s heart,” Donaldson said. “Having been with Alex before, I know that when he believes he has a team that can do some damage in the postseason, he’s going to do everything he can. Then we’re looking forward to whatever may be in store.”

As Anthopoulos was significantly upgrading Atlanta's bullpen before Wednesday afternoon’s Trade Deadline, Donaldson was cleaning up the latest mess created by the club's relief corps. The former MVP’s solo homer off Sean Doolittle enabled the Braves to cap a productive key road trip with a 5-4 win over Washington on Wednesday afternoon at Nationals Park.

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“[Donaldson] has been huge for us for two months now,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “He’s right in the middle of the lineup, playing every single day. When you can pencil him and I in the middle of the lineup every single day, it’s big. We’re starting to feel good together.”

With Donaldson, Freeman and Ronald Acuna Jr. filling three of their order's top four spots, the Braves have one of the game’s most potent lineups. Acuna smacked two key hits and swiped his 25th stolen base during this latest win. He joins Mike Trout and Andruw Jones as the only players 21-years or younger to record 25 homers and 25 stolen bases in a season.

There's been hardly any doubt about the offensive potential of the Braves, who went 4-2 on this road trip that began with a pair of wins in Philadelphia. They will return to Atlanta with a 6 1/2-game lead, and the enhanced confidence Anthopoulos created when he acquired three top relievers -- Shane Greene, Mark Melancon and Chris Martin -- before Wednesday’s Trade Deadline.

With Greene set to replace Luke Jackson as the team's closer and Melancon and Martin targeted to serve as top setup men, Braves manager Brian Snitker should find the late-inning comfort that wasn’t present when Jackson and Sean Newcomb combined to blow Wednesday’s two-run, ninth-inning lead. The latest bullpen implosion nearly wasted the strong start of Michael Soroka, who allowed one run over seven innings.

“This team is really, really good,” Freeman said. “I think everybody knows this team has a real good chance to win this thing. When you play well and you get rewarded by your front office, it just fires everybody up in this clubhouse.”

After Washington staged its ninth-inning rally, Donaldson prevented a potentially disastrous end to the road trip by drilling Doolittle’s 1-2 fastball over the center field wall in the top of the 10th. The 407-foot blast was Donaldson’s 25 homer of the season and the fourth he’s hit in 12 games against the Nationals.

Donaldson struggled through the first two months, but after posting a .942 OPS and tallying 18 homers over the past two months, he has become a key reason why the Nationals remain six games back of the Braves in the loss column. Washington has gone gone 4-6 against Atlanta and 29-12 against all other opponents dating back to June 1.

The Braves have also won six of their past nine games against the Phillies, who were tied with the Nationals for second place in the National League East following Washington's loss on Wednesday.

“It was a good road trip for us after we didn’t play well for a week or two,” Freeman said. “ To come on the road against two division opponents and go 4-2, that is big.”

The Braves lost Nick Markakis when he fractured his left wrist during the first game of this trip in Philadelphia. But Markakis’ absence created an opportunity for Adam Duvall, the former All-Star who has gone 11-for-22 with four home runs since being promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday.

Ender Inciarte has also made an impact, offsetting the struggles of Austin Riley -- who could be sent to Gwinnett when Dansby Swanson is eligible to be promoted from the injured list on Saturday.

So what did this road trip tell the Braves about themselves?

“That we are who we know we are,” Soroka said. “The funny thing about it is, I think all of us think we could have played a little better. That’s where we can look at things objectively and know we still have improvements we can make. We still have to battle every day and we don’t have this wrapped up.”