Washington Nationals Beat New York Mets 9-3 in Spring Training Opener

This may have been news to the media, but around Bryce Harper’s two at-bats, a baseball game was actually being played, which the Washington Nationals won 9-3 over the New York Mets.

It’s hard to take a lot from the first game of the exhibition schedule, but the Nationals’ two biggest competitions—in left field and for the last spot in the rotation—have started in earnest.

Chad Gaudin started things off in the race for the fifth spot, going three innings while giving up five hits and two earned runs with four strikeouts and no walks.

Nothing to write home about, but a decent start from Gaudin nonetheless.

Gaudin did give up an opposite field home run to Angel Pagan—the Mets’ new starting CF after Carlos Beltran's switch to RF—but on most days, where the wind wasn’t blowing out to right, it would have been a routine fly out.

The most impressive thing about Gaudin was his control. In three innings of work, Gaudin threw 47 pitches, 32 of which were strikes. He had good life on his fastball, and he was able to place it well throughout the start.

The question is, was his low walk total and his high strikeout total a product of Gaudin’s ability or the aggressiveness of rusty hitters playing in only their second game of the spring?

If the hitters are supposed to be rusty, no one told Mike Morse or Roger Bernadina.

Morse smacked two two-run home runs—one to left and one to right—and added in a single for good measure.

Bernadina went 2-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base. One of Bernadina’s hits was a perfectly laid-down bunt down the third base line.

While Bernadina did nothing wrong, Morse’s fantastic start to the spring has to put him in the early lead for the starting job in left. The most likely scenario is a platoon between the two, but I think it would be better to hand one of them the keys for the season and see what he does with the importunity.

Other Notes

* Jesus Flores played in his first major league game since May 2009. Flores went 0-for-3, but the joy of being back on the field after two years of rehab has to overshadow the disappointing start.

* Wilson Ramos, Flores’ competition for the backup catcher role, went 2-for-2 with a couple of runs

* The Nationals pitching staff combined for 10 Ks and just one BB.

* The Nationals defense looked good, committing just one error—a throwing error by Jerry Hairston playing third base.

* Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche sat this game out, but all three will be in the lineup for Tuesday's game. Werth will hit third, Zimmerman will hit fourth and LaRoche will DH because of a sore shoulder.