The Braves jumped to an early lead on Opening Day, holding a 2-0 advantage over the Nationals after three innings.
The big shot so far came in the second inning on a solo home run by Jason Heyward, his second consecutive Opening Day homer. Nationals starter Livan Hernandez left a curveball letter high on the fourth pitch of the at bat, and Heyward was able to get on top of it and drive it in the first row in right field.
The first Braves run came in the first inning when Chipper Jones doubled down the right field line, hustling to beat a throw from right fielder Jayson Werth. That was followed by a single from Brian McCann that scooted past second baseman Danny Espinosa to bring home Jones. All of this was with two outs to get the Braves rolling early.
Hernandez is at 43 pitches through three innings, allowing the three hits and two runs, no walks and one strikeout. He is receiving the usual Livan calls on the outer half, evident by a Nate McLouth strikeout in the third inning.
Derek Lowe has given up three hits and one scary flyout. The Nationals reached scoring position in the first two innings. The first was back-to-back singles by Werth and Ryan Zimmerman, but Lowe bared down and got two solid outs. Espinosa singled in the second and reached second on a groundout, but he was left there.
Lowe settled in and struck out the side in the third, consisting of Desmond, Werth and Zimmerman. His stuff looks really good, and he seems to be settling in.
For more on the series, Braves fans should visit Talking Chop, and Nationals fans should visit Federal Baseball.