Rotating out?
Newcomb struggles at home again as Braves lose to Nats
ATLANTA — Atlanta Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb is fighting for a spot in the team’s potential postseason rotation.
The way things have gone for him at SunTrust Park recently, Newcomb might be creating doubt he can handle the job.
“It’s just more a mentality,” he said. “I’ve got to go out there and get right after guys and not worry about too much about what’s going on as far as what’s working and what’s not.”
Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon hit two-run homers, and Juan Soto added an RBI single in the ninth inning as the Washington Nationals beat the Braves 6-4 Sunday.
Atlanta maintained a 6 1/2-game lead in the NL East over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies but has lost two straight after a season-best winning streak that lasted six games. The Braves are 38-36 at home, including 3-8 in their past 11 at SunTrust.
Washington starter Tanner Roark (9-15) allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, and Sean Doolittle pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 25 chances this year.
Newcomb (12-9) made 31 pitches in the first and allowed five runs and six hits in three innings. He has lost four of five home starts since coming within one strike of a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Atlanta on July 29, and he has an 11.32 ERA at home over that span.
“I wasn’t commanding the fastball, so it was hard to get everything else going,” Newcomb said. “You could tell they were laying off pitches, waiting on their pitch to kind of do something with.”
Washington built a 3-0 lead in the first when Harper hit his 34th homer of the season and Ryan Zimmerman grounded into a run-scoring forceout. Rendon hit his 20th homer of the season to make it 5-0 in the third; he has reached safely in 25 straight games.
Soto, a 19-year-old rookie, singled in the first to extend his on-base streak to 21 straight games, tying Mickey Mantle in 1951 for the second-longest streak by a teenager behind Mel Ott’s 22 in 1928. Soto is batting .357 during a 10-game hitting streak.
“He’s been a blessing for us all year long,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “Just watching him play, he’s just out there having fun and playing the game the right way.”
Atlanta closed to 5-4 on two-run homers by Tyler Flowers in the fourth and by Charlie Culberson in the eighth against Greg Holland.
Roark’s streak of 27 2/3 consecutive innings without a walk ended in the third, but he struck out Freddie Freeman to strand two runners.
Rendon dove to field a grounder at third in the fifth and jumped to throw off one leg to get pinch-hitter Preston Tucker at first. Late in the inning, center fielder Victor Robles ran hard to his left and chase down Ozzie Albies’ liner at the wall.
It was the Nationals’ offense, though, that has dominated the past two games. Harper just hopes they can stay in contention despite being 7 1/2 games behind Atlanta.
“It’s a bummer when we’re not winning ballgames,” Harper said. “That was the biggest thing on my mind.
“I’m not really worried about my numbers or anything like that because I am who I am. That sounds bad, but I am. Any given night, I’m able to go out there and do some things for this team that are special, and I was able to do that again today.”