Washington's night unraveled fast. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson went back-to-back in the first inning, Dominic Smith added a 403-foot blast in the fourth, and by the time the Nationals finally got a hit off Pérez, the game was already decided. Atlanta's now won 4 straight and hasn't dropped a game to Washington all series.
The finale capped off a full series sweep for the Braves, who've simply owned this matchup the last three days. Washington's bullpen, already down Mitchell Parker and Richard Lovelady for the year, had no answer once Pérez left in the seventh, and the Nationals' four-game skid is starting to look like a real slide rather than a blip.
None of it changes the standings picture much — Atlanta was never in doubt as the better team in this series — but it's another data point in a season where the Braves keep finding secondary contributors to step up while their front-line names rehab. Washington, meanwhile, needs Mikolas to find whatever version of himself showed up in May, because right now the rotation behind him is thin and getting thinner.