Atlanta Braves News: The Braves have clinched the best-record in all of baseball and at this point, they are playing to stay sharp. Last night, the offense racked up 17 hits in a losing effort against the Washington Nationals.

Forrest Wall led the way with three hits, bringing his season average to .462. Perhaps Forrest will be able to offer more than pinch-running services in the postseason?

Ronald Acuna Jr. left the game after two at-bats just to get some rest and give Kevin Pillar a little playing time. Pillar went 2-4 with a run scored and one RBI.

Albies added to his Silver Slugger case with three hits and an RBI, bringing his season average up to .279. Matt Olson went 1-1 before giving way to Luke Williams.

Marcell Ozuna added two hits and a run. Eddie Rosario and Travis d’Arnaud also added two hits each. Nicky Lopez got in on the action with one hit and two runs.

Despite all the hits and the six runs, the Nationals managed 10 runs on 10 hits against Braves pitching. Allan Winans surrendered six earned in 5.1 innings of work. Brad Hand got stuck with the loss and the Blown Save by giving up a run in .2 innings.

Jesse Chavez relieved Hand by allowing three runs (one earned) in one inning. Mercilessly, Jackson Stephens was the only Braves pitcher to not allow a run, pitching two scoreless innings.

The Braves take on the Nationals at 7:20 PM EST as Spencer Strider attempts to claim the franchise single-season strikeout record.

The Braves are only four homers shy of the single-season team home run record, set by the Minnesota Twins in 2019.