ATLANTA -- When asked Friday afternoon about Josiah Gray's lone rough outing this season -- his Opening Day start against the Braves -- Nationals manager Dave Martinez expressed just how much of a competitor Washington's young hurler is.

“He gets up for it, and again, he just loves to compete,” Martinez said. “He did give up a couple of homers, but he settled down a little bit and he pitched well after that.”

Gray delivered in the Nationals’ 3-2 loss against Atlanta at Truist Park, which extended Washington’s losing streak to five, but the Braves rallied in the eighth inning after miscues from Lane Thomas, CJ Abrams and Dominic Smith.

First, Thomas couldn’t secure Eddie Rosario’s single that allowed him to advance to second and put Sean Murphy at third. Then, Marcell Ozuna knocked in Murphy to tie the game on a groundout, where Smith could have gotten the out at home but lost grip of the ball and had to settle for getting the out at first. Orlando Arcia sealed the comeback after his ground ball to shortstop deflected off of Abrams’ glove for an RBI single.

“Tough loss,” Martinez said postgame. “We played well til the bottom of the eighth and, as I always say, when you give good teams extra outs, they’re going to get you, and that's what we did in the bottom of the eighth.”

Despite the loss, Gray had one of his best games of the season in a roller-coaster performance. When he faced the Braves in April, the NL East leaders gave him fits, scoring five runs on seven hits with three home runs. This time around, the 25-year-old allowed a season-low two hits -- the first of which didn’t come until the fourth inning -- and one run with six strikeouts.

Gray finished the night with 18 swings and misses, with 14 coming on his slider and curveball. It was the fourth-most whiffs he's generated in a game this season. His 2.43 road ERA is also the third-lowest in the National League, trailing only the Braves’ Bryce Elder (1.76) and the D-backs’ Merrill Kelly (2.12).

“He threw great,” said Kyle Finnegan, who gave up the two runs (one earned) in the eighth. “It’s a really good team, really good lineup and he kept us in it the whole way. We should have came out on top tonight. He pitched well enough to win.”

Still, Gray can improve upon his start. He allowed four walks, with one of them putting Ozzie Albies on base and he eventually came around to score the Braves’ first run. Another concern was his four wild pitches. He now has seven on the season, tied with San Francisco's Alex Cobb for the most in the National League.

“The walks are probably the main takeaway,” Gray said. “The two later walks in the game didn't come back to bite me, but there probably will be times when they do. So I just got to control my stuff a little bit better and be in the zone with it better and just get the team in the dugout as quick as possible.”

Though Gray got outs when the Nats needed them, Martinez acknowledged he has to refine his direction in the zone to limit the walks. Gray also exited after reaching 96 pitches in the five innings, with the walks and facing a dominant Braves lineup contributing to his high pitch count.

“I just got to get back in my legs a little bit and work with the pitching coaches -- work with [pitching coach Jim] Hickey and [bullpen coach] Ricky Bones -- and just get right back to where I need to be,” Gray said. “I take today as a win, but know that I can be better. I can get into the sixth, seventh against some of these really good teams and get a win for the team.”