Major League Baseball

Lopez, Werth help Nationals beat Braves

Published Aug. 19, 2016 2:04 a.m. ET

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ATLANTA (AP) Rookie Reynaldo Lopez struck out 11, Jayson Werth reached safely in his 46th straight game and the Washington Nationals pulled away from the Atlanta Braves 8-2 on Thursday night.

Werth hit an RBI double in the fifth inning to tie Rusty Staub on the Nationals-Expos franchise list for the longest streak of reaching base. Werth went 2 for 4 and has 43 hits and 32 walks during his string, the best in the majors this season.

After rain delayed the start for 1 hour, 16 minutes, Lopez (2-1) struck out eight of the first nine batters. He had 10 whiffs through his first 4 2-3 innings.

Lopez set a career high for strikeouts and allowed one earned run and four hits in seven innings.

The Nationals broke it open with five runs in the eighth. They are 30-10 against the Braves since June 21, 2014.

Rob Whalen (1-2) allowed three hits and one earned run in a career-best six innings.

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