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MIAMI - On many occasions last year, the Nationals had rallies die because they were unable to do two things: take extra bases and come up with big two-out hits. They took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of tonight's game with the Marlins because they were able to do both of those things.
After Jayson Werth struck out for the 14th time in his career - and eighth in a row - against Anibal Sanchez, Ryan Zimmerman drew a two-out walk, which seemed harmless enough. But Adam LaRoche singled to right, and Zimmerman hustled to third on the play. That paid off, because Michael Morse followed LaRoche with a single to left that scored Zimmerman.
When so many of the Nationals' hitters have bad numbers against Sanchez, they'll need to cash in on those seemingly minor opportunities to put together some runs tonight. They could have had more, but Chris Coghlan made a spectacular diving catch on Rick Ankiel's drive to center field.
It's 1-0 Nationals in the bottom of the first.
