WASHINGTON -- Making his 10th career Major League start but facing a repeat opponent for the first time, Mitchell Parker again looked in control in the Nationals’ series opener against the Braves.

“I love him because he’s so poised out there,” manager Dave Martinez said of his rookie lefty before Thursday’s start. “You don’t know if he’s doing good or bad, ever. He just goes out there and attacks the hitter.”

Parker came as advertised Thursday, retiring the first 13 batters he faced and taking a no-hit bid into the sixth inning. Atlanta’s Adam Duvall eventually launched a two-run homer off Parker in the seventh, and the Braves tacked on three more runs off Hunter Harvey in the eighth to give Washington a 5-2 loss.

The Nationals’ fourth straight defeat spoiled another impressive showing from the 24-year-old Parker, who tossed seven innings and allowed three hits and two runs with two strikeouts and a hit batter.

“It was just another good start, the body felt good, I felt like I was able to command all four pitches and was just trying not overthink it,” Parker said.

Having thrown an efficient 71 pitches through seven innings, Parker said he felt good physically, but on a hot and humid evening and with a rested Harvey and Kyle Finnegan available in relief, Martinez turned to his bullpen.

“There is no balancing act,” Martinez said about weighing the possibility of leaving Parker in vs. going to the bullpen for the eighth. “[Parker] did his job. We have two guys in the back end of the bullpen who have been really good. Harvey just didn’t get it done today.”

Harvey retired the first two batters he faced before allowing a double to Ozzie Albies in a full count, a 1-1 single to Austin Riley and a two-run homer to Marcell Ozuna.

“I felt great. I thought my stuff was great, my command was great,” Harvey said. “I felt like I missed one time today and it was the homer. The others, they hit it in the perfect spot.”

Martinez said he also turned to his fresh arms in the bullpen with a big-picture eye on Parker.

“He’s a young kid and he’s got a long way to go,” he said. “We’ve got to keep him fresh.”

Parker became the first pitcher in Nationals history to allow three earned runs or fewer in each of his first 10 Major League starts. He’s the first pitcher in franchise history to pull the feat since Expos lefty Jeff Fassero in 1993.

Along the way, Parker has made five starts against the past four World Series champs, compiling a 3-1 record with a 2.93 ERA in those outings.

“I think any guy that comes up and faces the teams that he has, it shows how he builds off each one,” right fielder Lane Thomas said. “He throws good pitches when he needs to. … He’s proven that he can go deep into games.”

Parker was also aided by terrific defense behind him. Center fielder Jacob Young made a pair of sliding catches to rob potential base hits off Sean Murphy in the fifth and Albies in the sixth. Second baseman Luis García Jr. and shortstop CJ Abrams were also sharp in the infield.

“It’s awesome being able to rely on the guys in the field,” Parker said. “It’s great being able to know that a lot of those hits that are going out there are going to be caught.”

After Parker and Braves righty Reynaldo López each took shutouts into the sixth inning, the Nationals opened the scoring in the bottom of the frame with back-to-back home runs from Abrams and Thomas.

Abrams snapped a 1-for-23 funk as he sent a homer a Statcast-projected homer 412 feet to right-center field for his team-leading 10th homer of the season. Four pitches later, Thomas homered to left to give the Nationals a two-run lead. It marked the first time this season the Nationals hit back-to-back homers and the first time López had allowed a homer since April 30.

Singles from Jesse Winker and García followed, but the rally fizzled.

“I thought once we scored that [Abrams homer] and Lane came and hit the homer and then it was boom-boom-boom, I thought it would be a trickle effect, but it didn’t happen,” Martinez said.

As the Braves erased their 2-0 deficit with five unanswered runs, the Nationals offense went dry. Atlanta relievers Aaron Bummer, Joe Jiménez and Raisel Iglesias combined to retire the final nine batters as the Nationals dropped to eight games below .500.

“We took some good swings tonight, but you’ve got to get more than two off a team like that,” Thomas said. “They score a lot of runs.”