Nationals down Braves in 10 innings
Daniel Murphy was a huge hit in his Washington debut with a home run and a go-ahead double in the 10th inning, and the Nationals rallied past the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in their season opener Monday.
NL MVP Bryce Harper also homered in his first plate appearance of the season, and the Nationals made a winner of Dusty Baker in his first game as their manager.
Washington tied it in the ninth on Michael Taylor’s sacrifice fly to shallow center field. Atlanta nearly escaped with a game-ending double play, but Jayson Werth scored when catcher A.J. Pierzynski dropped Ender Inciarte’s accurate throw that beat Werth to the plate.
Murphy’s one-out double to left off Eric O'Flaherty (0-1) drove in Ryan Zimmerman from second base. Zimmerman reached on a two-base throwing error by second baseman Gordon Beckham.
Murphy also walked twice in his first game since leaving the rival Mets as a free agent and signing a $37.5 million, three-year contract with Washington. The 2015 NLCS MVP set a postseason record last year by hitting a home run in six consecutive playoff games.
Freddie Freeman and Adonis Garcia homered against Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings.
Blake Treinen (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for Washington. Jonathan Papelbon got three straight outs for the save.
The Braves took a 3-2 lead in the eighth. Shawn Kelley, who replaced Felipe Rivero with the bases loaded, threw four straight balls to Garcia to force in a run.
Harper homered into the right-field seats off Julio Teheran in the first inning. Only 23, the slugger already has four career homers on opening day. He homered twice in the 2013 opener and also connected last year.
Teheran allowed two runs on five hits and three walks in six innings.
Baseball’s new “Chase Utley Rule” cost the Braves a baserunner after Nick Markakis walked in the seventh. On Hector Olivera’s grounder to third, Markakis slid wide of second base, upending Murphy, whose throw to first was late.
Olivera was ruled out at first for a double play because the slide by Markakis took him too far inside the bag. Murphy pointed to Markakis immediately after the play.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez left the dugout briefly but did not argue the call.
The Braves opened their 20th and final season at Turner Field. They will move into new SunTrust Park in suburban Atlanta next season.
PITCHING PLANS
Baker said Tanner Roark will start Thursday’s home opener against Miami. Joe Ross and Scherzer will follow Roark in the rotation before Gio Gonzalez makes his first start. Baker said Gonzalez was available in the bullpen on Monday.
Baker said he and pitching coach Mike Maddux “discussed it and changed it and rehashed it” before settling on a plan designed to protect the bullpen. The plan was influenced by off days on Tuesday and Friday this week.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Nationals: CF Ben Revere was replaced by Taylor to open the fifth inning. The Nationals did not immediately report any health or injury issue with Revere.
Braves: Now that Freeman’s right wrist appears to finally be pain-free, Fredi Gonzalez said he wants to keep the key member of his lineup healthy with an occasional day off. Gonzalez acknowledged it won’t be easy to get Freeman to accept that plan. Freeman laughed when he said Monday, “He can ask all he wants, but he can’t force me out of the lineup.” Freeman started his sixth straight opener, an Atlanta record for a first baseman.
UP NEXT
Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg will try to improve his unimpressive career numbers against Atlanta on Wednesday in the second game of the series. Strasburg is 6-7 with a 3.77 ERA in 19 career starts against the Braves, including a 3-3 mark and 4.79 ERA in nine starts at Turner Field.
Braves: RHP Bud Norris, who won 15 games for Baltimore in 2014, will try to move past a disappointing 3-11 record with the Orioles and Padres in 2015 when he makes his debut with Atlanta. Norris was 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA in six spring starts.
Nationals 4, Braves 3, 10 innings,
Washington AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
Revere cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Taylor cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Rendon 3b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
Harper rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 |
Zimmerman 1b | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 |
D.Murphy 2b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .667 |
Werth lf | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
W.Ramos c | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .400 |
Espinosa ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
Scherzer p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 |
Rivero p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
Kelley p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
O.Perez p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
Drew ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Treinen p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
Papelbon p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
Totals 37 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 11 | ||
Atlanta AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
Inciarte cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 |
Aybar ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
Freeman 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
Ad.Garcia 3b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .333 |
Markakis rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .000 |
Olivera lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Grilli p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
K.Johnson ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | --- |
O’Flaherty p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
J.Johnson p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
Pierzynski c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Peterson 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
G.Beckham ph-2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
Teheran p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Winkler p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
Vizcaino p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
Francoeur ph-lf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
Totals 32 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 11 | ||
Washington | 100 | 100 | 001 | 1 | — | 4 | 8 | 0 |
Atlanta | 100 | 100 | 010 | 0 | — | 3 | 4 | 2 |
E—Aybar (1), G.Beckham (1). LOB—Washington 9, Atlanta 5. 2B—D.Murphy (1). HR—Harper (1), off Teheran; D.Murphy (1), off Teheran; Freeman (1), off Scherzer; Ad.Garcia (1), off Scherzer. RBIs—Taylor (1), Harper (1), D.Murphy 2 (2), Freeman (1), Ad.Garcia 2 (2). SB—Harper (1). CS—Rendon (1). SF—Taylor. DP—Washington 2, Atlanta 1.
Washington | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Scherzer | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2.57 |
Rivero | 2/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13.50 |
Kelley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - |
O.Perez | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
Treinen W, 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 |
Papelbon S, 1-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
Atlanta | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Teheran | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3.00 |
Winkler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
Vizcaino | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 |
Grilli BS, 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9.00 |
O’Flaherty L, 0-1 | 1/3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
J.Johnson | 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
Kelley pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored—Kelley 3-1, O.Perez 3-0, J.Johnson 1-0. HBP—by Rivero (Freeman). WP—Teheran. T—3:23. A—48,282 (49,586).
This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 10:55 PM with the headline "Nationals down Braves in 10 innings."