Washington Nationals Arrive in D.C. in Preparation for the New York Yankees

The Washington Nationals arrived back to D.C. on Thursday night with hopes of bringing home a championship seven months from now.

The Nats will take on the New York Yankees on Friday afternoon as Nationals Park will host the Nationals for the first time in 2013. Although it is not a regular-season game, the Nationals are more than excited to be back in D.C. Gio Gonzalez, who made his final spring start on Thursday and pitched four innings of shutout baseball, tweeted upon arrival at D.C:

"

We're BAAAACCCCKKKK!!! Hello DC,did ya miss us😜 #2013 #nats

— Gio Gonzalez (@GioGonzalez47) March 29, 2013"

Offseason acquisition Denard Span took to Twitter as well as the Nats touched down, tweeting:

"

We are here! #touchdown

— Denard Span (@thisisdspan) March 29, 2013"

As the team arrives in D.C., the hopes are high, and fans are excited for what could be a historic season. The Nats will take on the Yankees on Friday afternoon. The teams met last season at Nationals Park, where a New York lineup that looked much different than the one the Nats will see on Friday swept the Nats in their home park.

One big difference from last year is that Rafael Soriano, the Yankees closer for much of 2012, will now be wearing the Nationals logo on his hat and might have the chance to take on his former teammates. 

At the end of the day, the game might not count in the standings, but it certainly will help in the Nats' mentality going into Opening Day. Especially considering the sour taste that the Yankees left in Washington's mouth last season with the sweep.

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