March 30, 2008
The Washington Nationals made their debut at the new Nationals Park a special one. The Nationals 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves was the team’s first opening day victory since the team moved to Washington D.C. in 2005. The young Nationals showed a lot of poise when they were able to keep the Braves from scoring the go head run in the top of the ninth inning.
The key was the way Jon Rauch was able to keep his composure after the Braves scored the game-tying run. By keeping the score tied at two it gave Ryan Zimmerman his chance to do what comes natural to him. That is to WALK-OFF the field after providing another game winning hit – home run. Ryan Zimmerman hit a two out walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Nats a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. For Zimmerman it was his fourth career walk-off home run.
Box Score – www.retrosheet.org
Washington Nationals 3, Atlanta Braves 2
Game Played on Sunday, March 30, 2008 (N) at Nationals Park
ATL N 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 5 1 WAS N 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 3 4 1
BATTING
Atlanta Braves AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Johnson 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 Escobar ss 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 C. Jones 3b 4 1 1 1 0 1 0 5 Teixeira 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 14 0 Prado pr,1b 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Francoeur rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 McCann c 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 Diaz lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Kotsay cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 Hudson p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Pena ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Blanco pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ohman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moylan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 30 2 5 1 2 3 26 12
FIELDING - E: Hudson (1).
BATTING - 2B: Teixeira (1,off Rauch). HR: C. Jones (1,4th inning off Perez 0 on 1 out). SH: Hudson (1,off Perez). Team LOB: 4.
BASERUNNING - CS: Johnson (1,2nd base by Perez/Lo Duca).
Washington Nationals AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Guzman ss 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 4 Milledge cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 Zimmerman 3b 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 Johnson 1b 3 1 1 1 0 0 8 1 Kearns rf 3 0 1 1 0 0 5 1 Lo Duca c 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Dukes lf 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Harris lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Belliard 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 Perez p 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 Mackowiak ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rivera p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 King p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ayala p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lopez ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Rauch p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 30 3 4 3 0 5 27 13
FIELDING - E: Guzman (1). PB: Lo Duca (1).
BATTING - 2B: Johnson (1,off Hudson). HR: Zimmerman (1,9th inning off Moylan 0 on 2 out). Team LOB: 1.
PITCHING
Atlanta Braves IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP Hudson 7 3 2 2 0 3 0 24 Ohman 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Moylan L(0-1) 1.1 1 1 1 0 2 1 5 Totals 8.2 4 3 3 0 5 1 30
Washington Nationals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP Perez 5 4 1 1 1 2 1 19 Rivera 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 King 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 Ayala 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Rauch W(1-0) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 Totals 9 5 2 1 2 3 1 33
Umpires: HP - Mike Reilly, 1B - Bob Davidson, 2B - Alfonso Marquez, 3B - Andy Fletcher
Time of Game: 2:22 Attendance: 39389
Starting Lineups: Atlanta Braves Washington Nationals 1. Johnson 2b Guzman ss 2. Escobar ss Milledge cf 3. C. Jones 3b Zimmerman 3b 4. Teixeira 1b Johnson 1b 5. Francoeur rf Kearns rf 6. McCann c Lo Duca c 7. Diaz lf Dukes lf 8. Kotsay cf Belliard 2b 9. Hudson p Perez p
BRAVES 1ST: First game at Nationals Park; ceremonial pitch by
President George Bush; Johnson struck out; Escobar walked;
C. Jones flied to right; Teixeira was called out on strikes; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 0, Nationals 0.
NATIONALS 1ST: Guzman singled to right; Guzman was picked off
first but was safe on an error by Hudson [Guzman to third];
Hudson’s throw went behind the runner and down the RF line;
Milledge was called out on strikes; Zimmerman struck out;
Johnson doubled to right [Guzman scored]; Johnson’s first game
since 9/23/2006 when he broke his leg; Kearns singled
to right [Johnson scored, Kearns to second (on throw to home)];
Lo Duca grounded out (third to first); 2 R, 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
Braves 0, Nationals 2.
BRAVES 2ND: Francoeur grounded out (third to first); McCann
singled to right [McCann out at second (right to second to
shortstop)]; McCann hesitated after rounding the 1B bag;
Diaz grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Braves 0, Nationals 2.
NATIONALS 2ND: Dukes flied to center; Belliard grounded out
(third to first); Perez was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB. Braves 0, Nationals 2.
BRAVES 3RD: Kotsay flied to right; Hudson lined to right;
Johnson singled to center; Johnson was picked off and caught
stealing second (pitcher to first to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
0 LOB. Braves 0, Nationals 2.
NATIONALS 3RD: Guzman flied to center; Milledge grounded out
(first unassisted); Zimmerman grounded out (shortstop to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 0, Nationals 2.
BRAVES 4TH: Escobar grounded out (second to first); C. Jones
homered; Teixeira grounded out (shortstop to first); Francoeur
singled to third; Zimmerman allowed the ball to roll down the
line and it struck the bag; McCann flied to center; 1 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Nationals 2.
NATIONALS 4TH: Johnson lined to center; Kearns grounded out
(pitcher to first); Lo Duca grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Nationals 2.
BRAVES 5TH: Diaz reached on an error by Guzman; Kotsay flied to
left; Hudson out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Diaz
to second]; Johnson grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 1
E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Nationals 2.
NATIONALS 5TH: Dukes grounded out (third to first); Belliard
grounded out (shortstop to first); MACKOWIAK BATTED FOR PEREZ;
Mackowiak grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Braves 1, Nationals 2.
BRAVES 6TH: HARRIS REPLACED DUKES (PLAYING LF); RIVERA REPLACED
MACKOWIAK (PITCHING); Escobar grounded out (shortstop to
first); Nationals Elijah Dukes left the game due to injured right hamstring;
C. Jones struck out; Teixeira popped to
third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Nationals 2.
NATIONALS 6TH: Guzman grounded out (first unassisted); Milledge
grounded out (pitcher to first); Zimmerman grounded out (third
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Nationals 2.
BRAVES 7TH: Francoeur grounded out (shortstop to first); McCann
flied to right; Diaz flied to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Braves 1, Nationals 2.
NATIONALS 7TH: Johnson flied to center; Kearns flied to center;
Lo Duca flied to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1,
Nationals 2.
BRAVES 8TH: KING REPLACED RIVERA (PITCHING); Kotsay flied to
left; PENA BATTED FOR HUDSON; Pena walked; BLANCO RAN FOR PENA;
Johnson flied to center; AYALA REPLACED KING (PITCHING); Escobar
forced Blanco (shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Braves 1, Nationals 2.
NATIONALS 8TH: OHMAN REPLACED BLANCO (PITCHING); Harris grounded
out (first unassisted); MOYLAN REPLACED OHMAN (PITCHING);
Belliard grounded out (shortstop to first); LOPEZ BATTED FOR
AYALA; Lopez was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Braves 1, Nationals 2.
BRAVES 9TH: RAUCH REPLACED LOPEZ (PITCHING); C. Jones lined to
pitcher; Teixeira doubled to right; PRADO RAN FOR TEIXEIRA;
Francoeur grounded out (second to first) [Prado to third]; Lo
Duca allowed a passed ball [Prado scored (unearned)]; McCann
flied to left; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 2, Nationals
2.
NATIONALS 9TH: PRADO STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Guzman struck
out; Milledge grounded out (third to first); Zimmerman homered;
1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 2, Nationals 3.
Final Totals R H E LOB
Braves 2 5 1 4
Nationals 3 4 1 1
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