Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals
· Major League Baseball
5 - 9
Yohandy Morales homers and has 3 hits in his debut as the Nationals top the Braves 9-5
The Nationals called up Morales and Simpson before the game, with major league rosters expanding from 26 to 28. After striking out his first time up, Morales hit a solo shot in the third inning. Simpson (1-0) entered in the fifth with Washington up 5-2 and induced a double play and a flyout after inheriting a first-and-second, nobody-out situation.
Then he worked two more perfect innings.
The 24-year-old Morales, who hit 25 homers for Triple-A Rochester this year, also singled and doubled in an impressive debut.
AJ Smith-Shawver (0-1) allowed five runs and six hits in four innings. Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II homered for the Braves, whose lead over Philadelphia atop the NL East dropped to 3 1/2 games, with the Phillies playing at Arizona later Tuesday.
Albies homered for the Braves in the second, but Washington answered with four runs in the bottom half. CJ Abrams hit a two-run single with two outs, and Brady House added a two-run double.
Drake Baldwin doubled home a run in the third for Atlanta. Morales went deep leading off the bottom half.
Morales doubled to lead off the seventh, when the Nationals added two more runs. Reliever Brent Suter threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt for an error, allowing a run to score from third. Then Jacob Young hit an RBI single to make it 8-2.
The 26-year-old Simpson had a 2.30 ERA in 58 2/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A this year. He faced eight batters and got nine outs, striking out three.
The Braves called up veteran infielder Kyle Farmer and 25-year-old right-hander Blake Burkhalter. Burkhalter made his big league debut in the sixth, allowing one run.
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Scoring Summary
 |
9th Inning | Hicklen struck out swinging. |
|
9th Inning | Riley struck out swinging. |
|
9th Inning | Albies flied out to right. |
 |
9th Inning | Ribalta relieved Beeter |
|
8th Inning | Ford struck out swinging. |
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8th Inning | Chaparro singled to right, Lile scored, Morales to third. |
Statistics
 ATL |
 WSH |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Games Played | 1 |
| 1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
| 0 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
| 7 | Ground Balls | 14 |
| 10 | Strikeouts | 12 |
| 4 | Runs Batted In | 8 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
| 8 | Hits | 12 |
| 0 | Stolen Bases | 3 |
| 1 | Walks | 7 |
| 0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
| 5 | Runs | 9 |
| 1 | Ground Into Double Play | 0 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Flies | 1 |
| 34 | At Bats | 35 |
| 2 | Home Runs | 1 |
| 0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
| 11 | Runners Left On Base | 22 |
| 0 | Triples | 0 |
| 0 | Game Winning RBIs | 1 |
| 0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
| 2 | Doubles | 3 |
| 17 | Fly Balls | 10 |
| 0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
| 145 | Pitches | 177 |
| 0 | Games Started | 0 |
| 0 | Pinch At Bats | 1 |
| 0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
| 0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
| 1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
| 0 | Is Qualified In Steals | 1 |
| 16 | Total Bases | 18 |
| 35 | Plate Appearances | 43 |
| 324.0 | Projected Home Runs | 162.0 |
| 4 | Extra Base Hits | 4 |
| 3.8 | Runs Created | 9.0 |
| .235 | Batting Average | .343 |
| .000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
| .471 | Slugging Percentage | .514 |
| .265 | Secondary Average | .457 |
| .257 | On Base Percentage | .442 |
| .728 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .956 |
| 0.4 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 1.4 |
| 3.8 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 10.1 |
| 36.0 | Batter Rating | 58.0 |
| 17.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 35.0 |
| 0.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
| 4.14 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 4.12 |
| .235 | Isolated Power | .171 |
| 0.10 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.58 |
| .029 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .163 |
| .029 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .114 |
| 9.0 | Runs Produced | 17.0 |
| 0.8 | Runs Ratio | 0.9 |
| 0.5 | Patience Ratio | 0.6 |
| 0.3 | Balls In Play Average | 0.5 |
| 83.3 | MLB Rating | 100.0 |
| 0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Attendance: 18,975 | Capacity:
2026 National League East Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta |
- | 64 | W3 | 0.5897436 | 92 |
 Philadelphia |
6 | 70 | W1 | 0.55128205 | 86 |
 Miami |
16 | 80 | L3 | 0.4871795 | 76 |
| Washington |
19.5 | 84 | L2 | 0.46496814 | 73 |
 New York |
21 | 85 | L1 | 0.4551282 | 71 |