Braves 7, Nationals 6: Justin Upton hit the first of four homers by host Atlanta, which held on after nearly blowing a 7-0 lead to snap its eight-game losing streak in the opener of a critical three-game series against National League East-leading Washington.

B.J. Upton, Freddie Freeman and Tommy La Stella also went deep for the Braves, who drew within 3 1/2 games of the Nationals by beating Washington for the eighth time in 11 tries this season. Ervin Santana (11-6) gave up four runs on four hits with four strikeouts in six innings and Craig Kimbrel earned his 33rd save as Atlanta climbed within 2 1/2 games of the second wild-card spot in the NL.

Stephen Strasburg (8-10) was reached for all four homers, allowing seven runs on seven hits with nine strikeouts in five innings to drop to 1-8 in road contests this season. Anthony Rendon hit a three-run homer, Wilson Ramos added a solo shot and Denard Span went 3-for-4 for the Nationals.

Strasburg walked Freeman with two out in the first and Justin Upton hammered an 0-1 pitch over the center-field fence to put Atlanta ahead 2-0. B.J. Upton connected on a two-run homer to left with two outs in the second, and Freeman launched a two-run shot just over the right-field wall two batters later to make it 6-0.

After La Stella’s first major-league homer in the fifth made it 7-0, the Nationals got four runs off Santana in the sixth – three on Rendon’s long blast to left-center. After a 1-hour, 11-minute rain delay in the sixth, Ramos hit a leadoff shot off Anthony Varvaro in the seventh and Asdrubal Cabrera’s sacrifice fly later in the frame brought Washington within 7-6 before Jordan Walden’s 1 1/3 scoreless innings bridged the gap to Kimbrel.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Justin and B.J. Upton homered in the same game for the fifth time, setting a new major-league record for brothers. … Washington RF Steven Souza left the game in the third, one inning after slamming into the right-field wall trying to catch Freeman’s homer. … The Braves had not homered in their previous six games before Justin Upton’s first-inning blast, his 999th career hit.