ATLANTA -- The Braves insisted they werent trying to hit Bryce Harper. They were just going for the knockout punch in the NL East race against the Nationals. Justin Upton hit a home run with one out in the 10th inning to power Atlanta to a 3-2 win over Washington on Friday night as the Braves continued their domination of the season series. The Braves, who swept a three-game series at Washington on Aug. 5-7, lead the season series 11-3, including six straight wins. Jason Heyward had two hits and scored one run for Atlanta, which stretched its lead over the second-place Nationals to 15 1/2 games. "Theres a lot of baseball to be played," Upton said. "Our lead is pretty big right now, but crazier things have happened in baseball. Youve got to go out and win as many games as you can." Uptons 23rd homer to left-centre came on a 2-2 pitch from Ian Krol (1-1). It was his third career game-winning homer and second of the season. "Its a great feeling when you can go out and win the ballgame for your team," Upton said. "Theres nothing like that." Scott Downs (2-0) pitched a scoreless 10th for Atlanta. Harper was hit by pitches in the fourth and eighth innings by Alex Wood and Luis Avilan, respectively. Home plate umpire Marty Foster warned both benches after Avilan hit Harper on his shoulder in the eighth. Washingtons players rose to the top of the dugout but didnt come onto the field. It wasnt the first time Harper had been hit by a pitch against the Braves this month. Both Atlanta pitchers insisted they didnt try to hit Harper. "I tried not to look at him," Wood said of Harper. "It was embarrassing to hit somebody with a curveball." Avilan was trying to protect a 2-1 lead when he hit Harper. "I didnt want to put the runner on," Avilan said. "I was like, I hope he doesnt think I did it on purpose. Were leading 2-1. ... I felt bad because I almost hit him in the head because its dangerous, you know." Harper did not talk with reporters after the game. Nationals manager Davey Johnson said he thought Avilan should have been thrown out of the game. Asked if he thought Braves pitchers were trying to hit Harper, Johnson said, "I hope not, because its ridiculous. In a close ballgame, theyve got a lot more to lose than we do at this point, so it would be a ridiculous thing to do. "After he got hit the second time they should have thrown (Avilan) out of the ballgame and be done with it. But its their choice." On Aug. 6, both benches emptied when Harper was hit by Julio Teheran in the Braves 2-1 win at Washington. Downs threw an inside pitch past Harper to the backstop before walking Harper with one out in the 10th. Jayson Werth hit into a double play to end the inning. Wood gave up one run and five hits and no walks and a career-high nine strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings. Washingtons Taylor Jordan did not allow an earned run, but was hurt by three errors. Jordan allowed two runs, both unearned, and seven hits and three walks in six innings. Heyward led off the first inning with a single and took off for second base on ball four to Upton. Washington catcher Wilson Ramos made an unnecessary and wild throw to second base for an error, allowing Heyward to advance to third before scoring on Freddie Freemans double play grounder. Paul Janish, starting at second base after the Braves announced Tyler Pastornicky would need season-ending knee surgery, singled to lead off the third. After Janish advanced to third on Heywards single, shortstop Ian Desmond fielded Uptons grounder and threw to second to force Heyward. Second baseman Anthony Rendon attempted to complete the double play, but threw wild to first for an error, allowing Janish to score for a 2-0 lead. There was no reaction from Harper when he was hit by a pitch from Wood to lead off the fourth. Harper calmly jogged to first base and then made a comment to Freeman at the bag, prompting both to laugh. Harper advanced to third on Werths single and scored when Desmond hit into a double play. Harper wasnt laughing after he was hit by Avilans pitch in the eighth following a double by Ryan Zimmerman. Luis Ayala replaced Avilan and gave up a single to Werth as the Nationals pulled even at 2-2. NOTES: Upton also hit a game-winning homer against the Cubs on April 6. ... RHP Drew Storen, recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday, pitched a scoreless ninth. ... Braves 2B Phil Gosselin, recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett, made his major league debut as a defensive replacement in the 10th. ... Braves RHP Jordan Walden, who hadnt pitched since taking a liner off his pitching hand on Saturday, said his hand is fully recovered. ... The series continues Saturday night when Atlantas Mike Minor will try for his 13th win against Washingtons Stephen Strasburg, who is only 6-9 despite a 2.83 ERA. Nick Easton Jersey . But history aside, theyre still happy to participate in the Par 3 contest, traditionally held on the day prior to the first round of the Masters. Willie Roaf Jersey . Old times for a defence that has looked just plain old recently? "No," safety Ryan Clark said. "We used to be much better than that. http://www.customsaintsjersey.com/custom-carl-nicks-jersey-large-322e.html . The matchup will be made up in Minnesota at a later date. The arena was evacuated about 45 minutes before the scheduled 9:30 p.m. EST tipoff when a generator malfunction outside the arena sent smoke pouring into the building, according to NBA spokeswoman Sharon Lima. Jermon Bushrod Jersey .35 million, avoiding arbitration. Davis led the majors last season with 53 home runs and 138 RBIs, both career highs. He earned $3. Frank Warren Jersey . - The Pittsburgh Pirates plan on keeping promising left fielder Starling Marte playing alongside National League MVP Andrew McCutchen for years to come.DETROIT - Marvin Lewis had already mapped out how far the Cincinnati Bengals needed to go to move into field-goal range in the final seconds. "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Thats exactly where the Bengals were when Mike Nugent kicked a 54-yard field goal as time expired to give Cincinnati a 27-24 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. It looked like the Bengals would have to hold on just to force overtime, but they were able to stop the Lions in the final minute, and Detroits Sam Martin had a 28-yard punt that gave Cincinnati the ball near midfield with 26 seconds left. "You can tell you hit a bad punt right when you hit a bad punt," Martin said. "That kick came down to that play at the end of the game. Thats what you see and thats the immediate thought. I dont think anyones ever been wrong for thinking that. I should have hit a better punt." Lewis said Nugent could have attempted a game-winning kick from about 58 yards, but his pregame sheet said reaching the 36-yard line would put the Bengals in range. Andy Dalton, who had three touchdown passes, threw two short passes to gain 15 yards and called the teams last timeout to set up the winning field goal. Cincinnati (5-2) has won three straight, the last two by identical scores on kicks by Nugent. The Lions (4-3) rallied from an 11-point third-quarter deficit, but not even two touchdowns by Calvin Johnson could help them pull this game out. Here are five reasons Cincinnati came away with the win on the road: SPECIAL TEAMS: It wasnt just the winning field goal or Martins poor punt that loomed large at the end. Cincinnatis Kevin Huber gave his team a lift with a punt that pinned the Lions at their own 6 with 1:43 to play, and the Bengals blocked a field goal earlier in the game. MATCHING MEGATRON: Johnson was spectacular, especially when he leaped to catch a 50-yyard touchdown pass while surrounded by three Bengals, tying the game at 24 in the fourth.dddddddddddd But while Johnson finished with nine catches for 155 yards, Cincinnatis A.J. Green caught six passes for 155 yards, including an 82-yard touchdown in the first quarter. "A.J. had a big day today, but a bunch of guys were making big catches that are getting us conversions, getting us downfield, and changing the field position," Dalton said. "It was a big win." OVERCOMING INJURIES: Cincinnati lost cornerback Leon Hall early on with an Achilles tendon injury that Lewis called "significant" — and defensive tackle Devon Still hurt his elbow. Detroit dealt with problems on its offensive line. Tackle Riley Reiff hurt his hamstring but was able to return, and tackle Corey Hilliard went down with a knee injury. DEFENSIVE TOUGHNESS: The Lions went 13 of 19 on third down and controlled the ball for 34:31, but the Cincinnati defence didnt wilt. In fact, the Bengals were tough when they needed to be, preventing Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford from getting anything going on the Lions final possession, before Martins errant punt. "The defence makes a big third-down stop there at the end, when we havent stopped them much all day," Lewis said. "We get a good chance at a punt return, he has a bad punt, were able to get the ball up and down twice on offence, call timeout and kick the field goal. So we wrote a pretty good script there at the end." SECONDARY STRUGGLES: Lions cornerback Rashean Mathis hurt his groin, and cornerback Chris Houston was upset with himself after Dalton threw for 372 yards. It was Houston who was beaten on Greens long touchdown, and at one point the Detroit veteran was benched. "That was probably my worst half of football I ever played," Houston said. "I put this loss on me. Nobody else. I put it on me. I will be better but this total loss is on me." ' ' '