ATLANTA -- On a night Juan Soto rested a tweaked right knee, the Nationals had to get creative to score runs. And they’re hoping he won’t have to miss much longer.

Soto’s absence was felt on Friday night as six Braves pitchers held the Nationals to five hits in an 8-4 loss at Truist Park, their fifth defeat in a row. Two of Washington’s runs came without recording a hit.

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Tres Barrera got the Nationals on the board with a leadoff walk in the third and advanced on a wild pitch, fly ball to right, and another wild pitch. Two innings later, Gerardo Parra, who was filling in for Soto in right field, came around on a hit-by-pitch, wild pitch, stolen base, and sacrifice fly -- the first RBI of Erick Fedde’s career, no less.

Parra’s heads-up play to get a big lead and steal third when Braves starter Kyle Muller couldn’t easily throw to second was the kind of play manager Dave Martinez wants out of his young team. Without their premier slugger in the lineup, these are the plays they’ll need to manufacture runs.

“​​These guys, they’re playing hard,” Martinez said. “The way we scored a couple runs without any hits there for a minute. … I tell these guys every day, we’ve got to be aggressive right now. We’ve got to push the envelope, but you’ve got to be smart. It’s good to see that they’re running the bases well.”

The Nationals are hoping to get Soto, who leads the Majors with a .427 OBP, back this weekend. Martinez said before the game that he does not consider the injury to be major, but wanted to make sure his knee was OK before putting him back in the lineup.

“He actually got up and took some swings and was available to pinch-hit in the ninth inning,” Martinez said. “So that’s a good sign. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. He’ll go through the gamut again tomorrow, run a little bit, get some treatment, and hopefully he’s good to go.

“I definitely want to make sure that he’s 100 percent.”

Soto’s return alone won’t solve the Nationals’ issues, but it could go a long way towards ending the team’s five-game skid. Washington was missing thump from its lineup on Friday, as six of the seven hardest-hit balls of the night came off Braves bats. The lone Nationals hard-hit ball was a Yadiel Hernandez 103.7-mph single down the third-base line in the sixth.

Hernandez has been one of the big bright spots since the Trade Deadline. He was the only Nationals player with multiple hits on Friday -- the 33-year-old singled and scored in the ninth -- and extended his career-best hitting streak to nine games out of Soto’s customary three-spot in the lineup.

“He’s swinging the bat well,” Martinez said. “He batted third well and hit the ball hard a few times. I hope he keeps that going, because he’s a big part of our offense right now.”