Five things about the Braves’ 4-2 win Thursday night against the Nationals to open a four-game series at SunTrust Park.
1. The Braves snapped the Nationals' six-game winning streak and their 10-game road winning streak, and moved back into first place, a half-game ahead of Washington.
2. Braves lefty Sean Newcomb gave up two runs, four hits and two walks in seven innings and finished the month of May with a 5-0 record, 1.54 ERA and no homers allowed in six starts and extended his homerless streak to 36 innings. Newcomb threw seven consecutive balls and walked the first two batters to start the game. But he gave up only only one run in the first inning, retired 14 of the last 15 batters and matched his career high for innings pitched.
3. Freddie Freeman extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a third-inning double. He's hit .385 (20-for-52) in the streak, the longest by a Brave this season.
4. Nick Markakis' double in the second inning gave him 42 hits in May, second-most by an Atlanta-era Braves player for the month behind Ralph Garr, who had 47 in May 1974.
5. The Braves played their 40th game against a team with a current winning record, the most of any team in the majors that's not in last place. The Braves are 24-16 in those games, the best record in the NL vs. winning teams. Only the Marlins (43 games), Reds (41) and Rangers (41) have played more games against teams with winning records.
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