Nationals fall to Braves 5-4 in extra innings; recap: 7/31/2019

During the strange, wonderful, and chaotic final hours of the trade deadline, the Washington Nationals fell to the Atlanta Braves 5-4 in ten innings. Anibal Sanchez threw five innings in which he gave up ten hits and four runs, walked one batter, and struck out six. Tanner Rainey, Wander Suero, Fernando Rodney, and Sean Doolittle all provided clean, shutout relief innings; despite that, the Nationals could not rally back enough to win this series.

In the second inning, Juan Soto hit a solo home run to tie the game 1-1. In the eighth, Matt Adams also hit a solo home run to cut the deficit in half with a 4-2 score. The ninth inning proved to be the closest thing to a rally with a Kurt Suzuki RBI single that scored Adam Eaton and a Gerardo Parra double play groundout that scored Anthony Rendon. Unfortunately, in the tenth inning, Josh Donaldson's solo home run broke the tie and gave the Braves the 5-4 victory.

On Friday, the Nationals will face the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Joe Ross is set to start against Robbie Ray, and fans will be sure to see the Nationals' newest additions in Daniel Hudson, Roenis Elias, and Hunter Strickland. First pitch is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET.