The Atlanta Braves scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning to down the Washington Nationals, 6-3 at Nationals Park on Sunday. The loss meant a three game sweep of the Nats at the hands of the surging Chops, who now await word on the Rockies’ tilt against the Cardinals in Denver. The Atlanta victory put them just two games behind Colorado in the Wild Card standings — and if Colorado loses against the Redbirds, that difference would shrink even further. The Atlanta win spoiled a good outing from Nationals’ starter Livan Hernandez, who pitched a solid 6.1 — giving up only six hits and three earned runs. It was by far the best outing by a Nats pitcher during the series: the Chops scored 21 runs against the Anacostia Nine in the three game tilt in D.C.

On Sunday, the Nats jumped out to an early lead, with Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham hitting back-to-back home runs in the first inning. The back-to-back homers ended a run of frustrating at-bats for Nats hitters, who have had problems putting together big innings from the middle of their order. In all, the Nats broke out for nine hits in the game, but it wasn’t enough as, once again, the Nats’ bullpen couldn’t keep the Braves off the board. Mike MacDougal’s recent ninth inning woes continued, as he appeared cold coming in from bullpen — and couldn’t find the strike zone. The result was three Atlanta runs and a 6-3 Nats loss.