Braves 3, Nationals 1: Alex Wood struck out a career-high 12 in 7 1/3 innings and Justin Upton homered for his 1,000th career hit as host Atlanta won the rubber match of a critical three-game series, pulling within 3 ½ games of National League East leader Washington.

Wood (8-9) gave up one run on five hits with three walks in throwing a career-high 124 pitches, leading the Braves to just their second victory in the past 11 games. Upton’s fourth-inning homer also accounted for his 500th career RBI, Jason Heyward drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth and Craig Kimbrel earned his 34th save.

Ian Desmond finished 2-for-4 with a homer for Washington and Denard Span extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a pair of doubles. Gio Gonzalez (6-9) lost his fourth consecutive start, throwing 111 pitches while allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

Desmond led off the fourth with his 19th homer of the season, but Upton answered in the bottom half with a liner over the left-field fence for his 21st homer to tie the game. The Braves moved ahead 2-1 in the fifth as Emilio Bonifacio reached on a bunt single to start the frame and he scored when Jason Heyward beat Gonzalez to first base on a two-out grounder to the right side.

That ended the night for Gonzalez, who struck out the side in the first two innings before Atlanta ran up his pitch count. Wood struck out the side in the second, fifth and sixth, and after he fanned Adam LaRoche for the fourth time for the first out of the eighth, David Carpenter induced a first-pitch double-play grounder from Desmond to end the inning.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Wood, who has a 2.70 ERA in his past nine starts, collected his second major-league hit on a sixth-inning single to left. … Span has reached base in 36 consecutive games, one shy of the longest streak in the majors this season by Toronto’s Jose Bautista. … Atlanta C Evan Gattis delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth.