Nationals outlast Braves

WASHINGTON, United States — Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals closed out a rainy weekend at home on a high note.

Harper homered, Max Scherzer struck out seven in six innings and the Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Sunday in a game hampered by a pair of long weather delays.

Anthony Rendon also had two hits and drove in two runs for Washington, extending his hitting streak to 10 games and helping the Nationals earn a split of the series after Saturday’s game was rained out. Adam Eaton and Juan Soto each had three hits.

“It’s part of it. We play outdoors,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of the rain. “But the boys hung in there. They were all pretty loose in the clubhouse, honestly. Watching Shark Week. So, it was good.”

The start of the game was delayed one hour, 55 minutes by rain, and another downpour stopped play for almost 100 minutes between the sixth and seventh innings.

Two days after a heated exchange with teammate Stephen Strasburg during Friday’s 8-5 loss, Scherzer (13-5) allowed two runs and eight hits in his third straight win. The three-time Cy Young Award winner has pitched six or more innings in his last 19 starts, though the Braves made him work for it.

“A division team, they know everything I got,” Scherzer said. “They absolutely grind apart every at-bat. It’s really hard to put them away. Our defense played outstanding today.”

Speaking with reporters for the first time since Friday’s dugout disagreement with Strasburg, Scherzer shed no new light on the exchange, saying only: “Look, it was miscommunication, settled it. It’s over. End of story.”

Kelvin Herrera got five outs for his first save with Washington.

Atlanta’s Mike Foltynewicz (7-6), an All-Star who spent much of this week in Washington, gave up four runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings.

“Just waiting around this long, it’s kind of irritating,” he said of Sunday’s delays. “I’m ready to get out of D.C. It’s been a while here.”

Harper singled in Eaton to give Washington a 4-2 lead in the sixth. Matt Adams added another RBI single in the seventh, and Harper hit a solo drive in the eighth for his 24th homer.

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