Touki Toussaint was wild, but the Atlanta Braves defeated the Washington Nationals 7-6

The Braves won a thriller Monday night, 7-6,

After falling into a 6-3 hole in the ninth inning, the Braves streaked four runs together to stun the Washington Nationals. Dansby Swanson’s walk-off dancer was lucky.

For as exciting as the ninth inning was, the first eight and a half innings were just as frustrating as even a start to the pitching exit was short. The competitor of the evening was Touki Toussaint, who has struggled to find the strike zone for the majority of his last two outings. Last night he made it through three innings, to one bat in the fourth, by six runs and four runs leaving the plate.

It’s easy to blame a creator when things go wrong, but hometown referee Chad Whiston’s stretch zone was inconsistent throughout the night (but especially in the beginning), often varying from pitch to pitch, causing some disproportionate base suns in the Nationals worked favorably. After being suppressed on no less than fourth pitches by Juan Soto and Kurt Suzuki, Touki’s confidence shifted and he found himself in hot water early on.

After the dubious walk to Suzuki, Nationals prospect Luis Garcia hit his first major league game at home in the grass in front of the Chop House. What a cool moment for him, but not so much for the Braves, who found themselves 2-0 down. After a strike by Carter Kieboom, Eric Thames parked a fastball in the Braves’ Bullpen to catch up on another run.

The Braves got two runs in the second. After Marcell Ozuna ran, Nick Markakis pulled a double down on the right field line to cut the lead to 3-1. Austin Riley broke a 0-for-12 shot with a terrifying RBI single in the middle to bring Markakis home, making it 3-2.

Touki needed a shutdown in the third, but that was when he completely lost the zone. After hitting Trea Turner (who immediately placed second), Touki took three straight walks, and the Nats looked like they were about to burst through when Austin Riley pulled this web jewel and prevented further damage.

The Braves fielded three straight singles to start the third inning to bring the score to 4-3, and loaded the bases even with one out, but were unable to move the rally.

Touki got the chance to go through in the fourth, but after Kieboom immediately ran, he got the hook in favor of Grant Dayton. Dayton followed Touki’s theme of playing with fire, running his own bat and allowing an infield single, and missed by about two feet giving up a grand slam to Juan Soto. He would eventually hand over a solo home lead to Asdrubal Cabrera before his 1 ⅔ innings were complete.

Huascar Ynoa, who lost Dayton in the fifth, was the pitching MVP of this game for the Braves. He went three scoreless innings, struck out four and allowed only two hits. His role with this team seems to be flexible, but his comfort level appears to be the highest as a multi-inning reliever.

The most devastating missed opportunity of the night’s Braves came in the seventh inning. Travis d’Arnaud took the lead, and Nick Markakis doubled the lead. After a walk to Adam Duvall to load the bases, Johan Camargo and pinch-hitter Matt Adams, fresh from the IL, both struck out.

The seventh and eighth innings were a tease, as the Braves left five base runners on board. It looked like the Braves were for good death.

The Nationals took a 6-3 lead in the ninth on a long Juan Soto home run.

In the ninth inning, the Braves turned on the magic. After Markakis was hit by a pitch, Adam Duvall pulled a home run to left field, pulling the gap to 6-5. Camargo finally came on the board with a single to right center, and Dansby Swanson took Daniel Hudson deep to center in exciting ways. After what seemed like a sure loss for eight and a half innings, the Braves came out victorious, 7-6.

These two teams will meet again tomorrow night, with first pitch slated for 7:10 pm ET.