Braves can’t recover against Nationals

WASHINGTON — Catcher Wilson Ramos hit a two-out double in the eighth to drive in Ryan Zimmerman in a two-run rally as the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 Sunday to sweep the three-game series.

The Nationals tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI single in the eighth by first baseman Zimmerman off reliever Cody Martin (1-2).

Sammy Solis (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to get his first big league win and closer Drew Storen pitched the ninth for the save. Zimmerman and Ramos each had two hits.

The Nationals (17-15) swept the three-game series and have won four in a row and 10 of their last 12. The Braves (14-17) have lost eight of their last 12 and are 5-12 against Washington since June 21, 2014.

The Braves broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh as first baseman Freddie Freeman led off with a single. Pinch hitter Jonny Gomes then lofted a flyball to right that Bryce Harper appeared to lose in the sun. The hit was ruled a single as Freeman scampered to third. Third baseman Alberto Callaspo, hitting .166 in his last 22 games, then drove in the go-ahead run with his single against reliever Matt Grace.

Atlanta starter Alex Wood, who gave up three runs in the first but then settled down to allow eight hits with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

The Nationals jumped on Wood for four hits in the first. Harper had an RBI double off the glove of center fielder Cameron Maybin to make it 1-0. Zimmerman drove in Harper with a double and catcher Ramos followed with an RBI single as he extended hitting streak to 13 games.

Atlanta cut the lead to 3-2 in the second on back-to-back RBI singles by Maybin and Wood with two outs. The Braves tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single in the third by Jace Peterson, the second baseman.

Wood beat Washington three times last year and had an ERA of 1.78 in four starts. He was 3-for-68 in his career at the plate before Sunday but he came through with three singles in as many trips.

Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann, who threw 107 pitches but only 65 for strikes, gave up eight hits and three earned runs in six innings. He struggled with his command most of the day as many times Ramos would set up inside and Zimmermann would miss with a pitch outside against some lefties.

Harper had two hits and scored a run and now has 10 hits, six homers and 12 RBIs in the past four games, with seven runs scored. Freeman also had two hits, as did Washington shortstop Ian Desmond.