Nats take 2 of 3 from Amazin's

Game 1 - Nationals Park
Nats 3, Mets 1
Glavine vs G.Gonzalez

In a battle of crafty lefties Gio Gonzalez (9k's) was one Ryan Zimmerman 1st inning solo blast ahead.  After 6 innings both starters left with Gio up 1-0.  New York struck back and tied it in the top of the 7th on a pinch hit homer off the bat of Endy Chavez.  Washington took the lead in the 8th when they loaded the bases and Met reliever Aaron Heilman walked in 2 runs.  Tyler Clippard threw a scoreless 9th to notch the save and give the Nats the opening day win.

 

Game 2
Nats 5, Mets 2
P.Martinez vs Zimmermann

Pedro was on cruise control for 7 shutout innings, but it all came apart in the bottom of 8th when the Nats scored 5 unanswered runs to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 lead.  Mets manager Chris Gotay, when asked in the post game press conference if he felt he went with Pedro too long called it "His Grady Little moment".  Pedro quickly got the first two out in the inning then hit Flores with a pitch and served up a single to pinch hitter Steve Lombardozzi to put runners on the corners, which set the stage for an Ian Desmond 3 run blast to give Washington a 3-2 lead.  After Bryce Harper doubled Ryan Zimmerman hit his second home in as many days to give the Nats a 3 run lead.  Clippard came on in the 9th for his 2nd save in as many days.

Game 3
Mets 7, Nats 6
O.Hernandez vs Strasburg

Phenom Strasburg was lit up for 4 runs early, but vet El Duque' gave up 5, so the Nats clung to a 1 run lead until the top of the 9th when Clippard came on board to notch his 3rd save in as many days.  The Amazin's were to have none of it and dropped a 3 spot on the man with the sports specs.  Young David Wright came through with a clutch bases loaded / 2 out single to score two and put New York up by 1.  A wild pitch by Clippard would allow pinch hitter Cliff Floyd to score from third to make it a 2 run game.  New York was not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination as closer Billy Wagner gave up a trio of singles to start the bottom of the 9th.  Zimmerman's Sac Fly scored pinch hitter Morse to make it a 1 run game.  LaRoche grounded to second for the second out of the inning to advance the runners 90 feet for 19 year old rookie phenom Bryce Harper.  Wagner came sidearm with heat and blew away the wunderkind for the final out of the final game in a very entertaining opening series.