Raisel Iglesias picks up the win as Braves score in 10th on throwing error and beat Nationals 3-2

ATLANTA (AP) — Luke Williams scored from third on CJ Abrams' throwing error from shortstop with two outs in the 10th inning and the Atlanta Braves won for the fifth time in six games, beating the Washington Nationals 3-2 on Friday night.

Braves closer Raisel Iglesias (3-1) pitched two innings, struck out three and earned the win. He extended his streak of retiring batters to 38 with a perfect ninth before it ended in the 10th when he hit Jacob Young with a pitch to start the inning. He then retired the next three Nationals.

“It is amazing what he is doing,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Efficiency, situations. He did the same thing on the road, which is almost impossible to do. He’s probably the greatest team player I’ve ever been around. His stuff is just so good.”

Iglesias has thrown 13 hitless innings dating to July 27, and 17 scoreless innings dating to July 8, when he surrendered an unearned run.

“You almost just come to expect it,” Atlanta's Chris Sale said.

Michael Harris II, who led off the game with a home run, hit the hard grounder to short in the 10th. Abrams fielded the ball, but made a low throw to first, allowing Williams to score and ending the game.

“I gotta make a better throw in that situation,” Abrams said. “Maybe take a little more time. I think I had more time than I thought. ... We all fought.”

Harris did not get an RBI on the game-winning play. His speed may have been a factor in rushing Abrams.

“In that situation, with two outs, you try to put the ball in play and see what happens,” Harris said.

Eduardo Salazar (0-1) took the loss.

Sale pitched seven innings and gave up two runs on nine hits with one walk. His four strikeouts matched a season low.

“It was one of those dogfight games,” Sale said. “We’re deep into the season. It was tit for tat the entire game.”

Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore gave up just one run on seven hits over six innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter in 88 pitches.

Ramón Laureano had three hits for the Braves.

The Braves tied the game 2-all in the seventh on a double by Gio Urshela, who advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Orlando Arcia.

The Nationals pieced together a two-out rally in the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. Juan Yepez reached after hitting a slow roller up the third base line that stayed fair. Kelbert Ruiz followed with a ground rule double to right field that landed just inside the foul line after Braves right fielder Jorge Soler couldn't run it down. It was Soler's first start since straining a hamstring on Aug. 14. Andrés Chaparro knocked in both runners with a double to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: Right fielder Alex Call injured his right foot coming in on a fly ball in the second inning and left the game in a cart. He is awaiting results from an MRI.

UP NEXT

The Nationals will start RHP Jake Irvin (9-10, 3.81) against Braves RHP Charlie Morton (7-7, 2.29) in the second game of the three-game series.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Atlanta Braves third baseman Gio Urshela throws out a Washington Nationals runner at first base in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Atlanta Braves' Michael Harris II rounds second and waves to the crowd after hitting a home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale winds up in the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Atlanta Braves' Michael Harris II hits a line drive to center field in the third inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Washington Nationals' Joey Gallo watches a pitch go by called strike in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Washington Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore throws in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

BOSTON (AP) — A study that explores the feasibility of using pigeons to guide missiles and one that looks at the swimming abilities of dead fish were among the winners Thursday of this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement.

Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, the 34th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine’s website to make people laugh and think. Winners received a transparent box containing historic items related to Murphy’s Law — the theme of the night — and a nearly worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Actual Nobel laureates handed the winners their prizes.

“While some politicians were trying to make sensible things sound crazy, scientists discovered some crazy-sounding things that make a lot of sense,” Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an e-mail interview.

The ceremony started with Kees Moliker, winner of 2003 Ig Noble for biology, giving out safety instructions. His prize was for a study that documented the existence of homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks.

“This is the duck,” he said, holding up a duck. “This is the dead one.”

After that, someone came on stage wearing a yellow target on their chest and a plastic face mask. Soon, they were inundated with people in the audience throwing paper airplanes at them.

Then, the awards began — several dry presentations which were interrupted by a girl coming on stage and repeatedly yelling “Please stop. I'm bored.” The awards ceremony was also was broken up by an international song competition inspired by Murphy's Law, including one about coleslaw and another about the legal system.

The winners were honored in 10 categories, including for peace and anatomy. Among them were scientists who showed a vine from Chile imitates the shapes of artificial plants nearby and another study that examined whether the hair on people's heads in the Northern Hemisphere swirled in the same direction as someone's hair in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other winners include a group of scientists who showed that fake medicine that causes side effects can be more effective than fake medicine that doesn't cause side effects and one showing that some mammals are cable of breathing through their anus — winners who came on stage wearing a fish-inspired hats.

Julie Skinner Vargas accepted the peace prize on behalf of her late father B.F. Skinner, who wrote the pigeon-missile study. Skinner Vargas is also the head of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.

“I want to thank you for finally acknowledging his most important contribution,” she said. “Thank you for putting the record straight.”

James Liao, a biology professor at the University of Florida, accepted the physics prize for his study demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout.

“I discovered that a live fish moved more than a dead fish but not by much,” Liao said, holding up a fake fish. “A dead trout towed behind a stick also flaps its tail to the beat of the current like a live fish surfing on swirling eddies, recapturing the energy in its environment. A dead fish does live fish things.”

Professor James Liao displays a stuffed fish while accepting a prize for physics for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A team of researchers perform a demonstration during a performance showing that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus while accepting the 2024 Ig Nobel prize in physiology at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

People in the audience throw paper airplanes toward the stage during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Mass, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)