Braves Win Series Opener

      Pinch-hitter Brooks Conrad hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 9-8 on Friday night for their season-high fifth straight win.
      Yunel Escobar drew a leadoff walk from Jesus Colome (1-1) and moved to second on Matt Diaz's sacrifice bunt. Colome walked Casey Kotchman with two outs before Conrad, a 29-year-old rookie whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Gwinnett to replace the
injured Kelly Johnson, crushed a 1-0 fastball over the right-field fence for his first career homer.
      Boone Logan (1-0) pitched 1 2-3 perfect innings of relief.  Rafael Soriano worked the ninth for his eighth save in nine tries, despite yielding Cristian Guzman's two-out, two-run double.