Carter Kieboom, Jake Alu, Kibert Ruiz, Dominic Smith, and Lane Thomas hit home runs to lead the Washington Nationals to a 10-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.
Washington tied their season-high for home runs on a night when the NL East champion Braves rested their regulars in preparation for the postseason.
Jordan Weems (5-0) earned the win with one inning of relief, and Kyle Finnegan closed out the game. The Nationals used six relievers after starter Trevor Williams gave up two runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Ronald Acuña Jr. went 1 for 2 with a run and two steals before being pulled after two innings. He tied the Braves’ steals record of 72, set by Otis Nixon in 1991. Matt Olson was replaced with a pinch runner in the third inning after getting an RBI single in the first and walking in the third.
Brad Hand (5-3) took the loss in relief of rookie Allan Winans, who gave up six runs in 5 1/3 innings and surrendered three home runs. The Braves had won four straight.
Ruiz went 2 for 5 with three runs for the Nationals. Luis Garcia was 2 for 5.
Braves rookie Forrest Wall, starting in place of Michael Harris II, went 3 for 5 with a run and a steal.
Kieboom’s home run was a three-run shot in the fourth inning that opened the scoring for the Nationals and gave them a 3-2 lead.
The Nationals scored three runs in the sixth inning to retake the lead. A solo home run by Ruiz and a two-run shot by Smith put the Nationals ahead 7-6. They added three more runs in the seventh inning off right-hander Jesse Chavez. Thomas led off with a homer, and the Nats scored two unearned runs after errors by Chavez and Nickey Lopez.
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