How sweet was that?
It was a special night for Washington DC, Washington baseball, Washington fans, and the Washington Nationals. In the first game in the new digs of Nationals Park, Ryan Zimmerman smashed a walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Nats over the Atlanta Braves 3-2. The game was nationally televised on ESPN to christen in the new home of the Nats. It featured a first pitch by President George W. Bush. Anyone notice the boos?
SS Christian Guzman singled in the bottom of the first inning to record the first hit in Nationals Park. Ther batter later, 1B Nick Johnson doubled to right field, knocking in the first run at Nationals Park and give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. Next came a single from Austin Kearns that would score Johnson from second and put the Nats up 2-0. That was the last hit for the Nationals until Zimmerman’s game winning homer in the bottom of the ninth. Braves pitcher Tim Hudson would retire the next 20 Nats before giving away to the bullpen.
Odalis Perez pitched 5 innings for the Nats, scattering 4 hits and striking out 2, both in the first inning. Saul Rivera, Ray King, and Luis Ayala pitched three scoreless innings before Jon Rauch came in to close it out in the ninth inning. Despite warming up in the bullpen, Chad Cordero was not called to the mound because of apparent stiffness.
Martin Prado doubled in the top of the ninth and moved to third. He would score to tie the game up at 2-2 after a passed ball that got by C Paul Lo Duca. That would send the game to the bottom of the ninth and the stage was set for the face of the Nationals organization, 23 year old Ryan Zimmerman. What better way to win the first game at Nationals Park than a game winning homer in the bottom of the ninth by the prized player of the franchise.
Jon Rauch (1-0) earned the win. Besides the double given up by Rauch, which was actually a nice ptich, the bullpen again reinforced its value form last season as the strong part of the team, putting forth great efforts in relief of Perez.
DCPSR Player of the Game: 3B RYAN ZIMMERMAN, 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, GW RBI
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