Instant analysis: Nats 8, Braves 7 (15)

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Game in a nutshell: Tensions were high when this game began, with everyone at Turner Field wondering if Stephen Strasburg would retaliate for Bryce Harper's repeated plunkings by Braves pitchers. Only two batters in, he answered that question, drilling Justin Upton in the left hip with a fastball. Umpire Marvin Hudson immediately issued warnings to both dugouts and Upton quietly took his base, so that should have been the end of it. Except Strasburg completely lost his command in the bottom of the second, throwing seven straight balls, the last three of them wild pitches, the last two of them behind Andrelton Simmons' back. Hudson had no choice but to eject both Strasburg and Davey Johnson, leaving the Nationals in a real bind. Tanner Roark, though, came through with four huge scoreless innings of relief. The Nationals lineup pounded out seven runs and 15 hits off Braves pitching, with Jayson Werth reaching base four times to lead the way. Asked to protect a late lead, Drew Storen struck out the side in the seventh. Tyler Clippard gave up a homer in the eighth, but Rafael Soriano still was given a two-run lead for the bottom of the ninth ... which he still blew. Jason Heyward crushed a 1-0 fastball to right-center, tying the game and handing Soriano his second straight blown save (it would've been his third straight if not for Denard Span's highlight-reel catch on Wednesday). The game went to the 10th, with the Nationals going down in order against Craig Kimbrel. Ian Krol, who suffered the loss on Friday, turned in two scoreless innings to keep the game going, but the Nationals lineup couldn't get anything going late, going 0-for-16 between Ryan Zimmerman's homer in the eighth and single in the 13th. Craig Stammen, the last man standing in the Nationals bullpen, pitched valiantly through the 12th, 13th and 14th, setting the stage for Adam LaRoche to finally break the deadlock with a leadoff homer in the top of the 15th. And then who should finish it off to record the first save of his career? None other than Dan Haren, who wrapped this one up a mere 5 hours and 29 minutes after it began.

Hitting highlight: Just when you thought Werth couldn't get any hotter at the plate, he finds a way to turn things up a notch. With two more hits tonight, the veteran right fielder is now batting .521 (25-for-48) in August. This after he won NL Player of the Month honors for July. Put everything together, and Werth is now hitting .335 with a .409 on-base percentage for the season. He still needs another week's worth of plate appearances to qualify for the league leaderboard, but Werth would currently lead the NL in batting average and rank third in OBP.

Pitching highlight: Pressed into emergency duty after Strasburg's ejection, Roark would've been given a pass had he struggled. Instead, the rookie right-hander dazzled, tossing four scoreless innings of relief to save the Nationals bullpen. Very quietly, Roark is really impressing at this level. He's got legitimate big-league stuff and he seems to have the mental makeup for the job as well. He has now pitched 10 total innings for the Nationals, during which time he has allowed one unearned run on five hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts. Roark even put a charge into a pitch off his bat, coming a few feet short of a stunning home run in the top of the fifth. He had to settle for a mere double and RBI, the first of his career in each category.

Key stat: Five days after pitching nine innings for the first time in his career, Strasburg completed only one inning for the first time in the big leagues.

Up next: Who knows what to expect in Sunday's finale of this eventful series? All we know is that Gio Gonzalez is scheduled to take the mound against Julio Teheran at 1:35 p.m.