JR Ritchie, Ozzie Albies power Braves past Nationals

JR Ritchie threw seven strong innings in his major-league debut and Ozzie Albies collected three hits and four RBIs, fueling the visiting Atlanta Braves to a 7-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon.

Aside from his very first pitch, which James Wood sent 387 feet to right field for his 10th home run, little went wrong for Ritchie (1-0). He allowed two runs on five hits and struck out seven batters.

Albies belted his fifth homer of the season in the ninth inning off Julian Fernandez.

Michael Harris II went 3-for-4 and plated two runs before leaving the game after the top of the seventh inning in what the Braves called a precautionary move due to tightness in his left quad.

Matt Olson also had three hits and scored twice for the Braves, who finished with 14 hits on Thursday and captured three of the four games in the series.

The Braves snapped a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning against the Washington bullpen.

After getting the first out, Cionel Perez (1-3) walked Drake Baldwin, allowed a single to Olson and loaded the bases by walking Austin Riley.

Gus Varland relieved Perez and threw a wild pitch that scored Baldwin and moved the other runners up a base. Albies ripped a two-run single and scored on Harris' RBI double.

Perez yielded three runs on one hit and two walks in one-third of an inning.

CJ Abrams homer belted a solo homer off Ritchie in the fourth inning.

That blast tied the game at 2-2 after Albies and Harris gave Atlanta the lead in the top of the frame. Albies' sacrifice fly scored Olson, who doubled to start the inning. Harris followed with a run-scoring single that brought Riley home.

Dylan Lee pitched a perfect eighth and Carlos Carrasco followed suit in the ninth to secure the win.

Cade Cavalli struck out a career-high 10 batters for the Nationals. He went five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.

Daylen Lile went 2-for-2 with a walk for the Nationals, who ended the seven-game homestand with just two wins.